“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God?” Thomas Jefferson [Engraved on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial]
Tag: America
Public Apathy Enables Rise of Statism Said President Ronald Reagan!
At Reunion Arena in Dallas, 1984, President Ronald Reagan stated: “Without God there is no virtue because there is no prompting of the conscience. … Without God there is a coarsening of the society; without God democracy will not and cannot long endure. … America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under.”
In 1961, Ronald Reagan stated: “One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project. … James Madison in 1788 … said … ‘There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations.’ … What can we do about this? … We can write to our congressmen and our senators. … Say right now that we want no further encroachment on these individual liberties and freedoms. … We do not want socialized medicine. … If you don’t, this program I promise you will pass … and behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known … until, one day … we will awake to find that we have socialism. And … you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children, what it once was like in America when men were free.”
Excerpts courtesy of Bill Federer
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“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1Peter 4:8 NIV “Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” Proverbs 10:12 NIV
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Happiness Arises from Good Health and Growing Interpersonal Relationships
The Declaration of Independence stipulates 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.” [emphasis added] Since these rights have been established and given by God, they are self-evident, requiring no further explanation or support. Such rights are unalienable, meaning that they cannot be abridged or infringed upon in any way by government. However, “we may do something ourselves to forfeit the unalienable rights endowed by the Creator, but no one else can TAKE those rights from us without being subject to God’s justice.” An example of forfeiture may be committing a crime that requires incarceration. Now that our right to the pursuit of happiness is locked in exactly what is it?
Happiness is often equated with momentary or short-term excitement. “My favorite team won the Super Bowl!” “I got an ‘A’ in chemistry!” “She said ‘YES!’” There is no doubt about it; everyone enjoys that type of feel-good excitement. But it is based on emotion; it does not last. No one can live on a perpetual emotional high.
In contrast, a lifetime of long-term happiness has deeper spiritual roots that provide the support to withstand life’s challenges and hardships as well as celebrate the victories. That dimension of happiness reflects an inner joy anchored in a robust faith in God. Ever since Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden for disobeying God, every life has experienced occasional or sometimes long-term suffering. But a robust faith provides a clear vision of the light at the end of the tunnel and an appreciation of the character building opportunities associated with the hardships. The inner joy may be severely challenged but remains secure despite the pain.
Although my late wife never suffered any real physical pain, she did endure the progressive loss of physical mobility and mental capacity. Did her suffering have a purpose? Absolutely! Her experience dramatically and permanently changed my life and has had a rapidly expanding rippling effect on everyone with whom I come in contact. I explained to a rather large crowd at her memorial service that she and God gave me one of the greatest gifts I have ever received—the wonderful and glorious gift of tears. As a man, an engineer trained in logic, and the product of a rather stoic family, there was not much room for a manly expression of tears. But the wonderful and glorious gift of tears stirred by seven years of accommodating her progressive loss opened up to me whole new realms of life experience both emotionally and spiritually that were not previously available. I became much more sensitive to the needs of disabled people and virtually everyone else as well. Her experience also contributed greatly to the motivation to write this book.
Happiness is the Result of Virtuous Living
Here’s the deal: Ultimately, happiness is the result of living a virtuous life. How boring is that? Actually, a virtuous life is not boring at all; it is very rich, satisfying, and happy. During George Washington’s First Inaugural Address, he emphasized, “…there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists…an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness…” To President Washington, the link between “goodness and happiness” was plain and inescapable.” Further, Noah Webster found that, “If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad man to make and administer the laws.” A life based on virtues anchored deeply in the soul produces goodness of choices and actions that ignite a happy and joyful spirit within an individual and ultimately across cultures.
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“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” Thomas Paine
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Feds Routinely Breach Family Sovereignty!
A previous blog, “Sovereignty: Free Family v. Controlling State,” discussed the perpetual tension between the sovereign family and the sovereign state. In recent decades, the federal government has been winning that tug-of-war at an accelerating pace that is nothing less than frightening. Here’s how:
The state breaches family sovereignty by:
- Encouraging divorce, abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide
- Removing children from their family
- Tacitly for ever increasing amounts of “education”
- Physically for an ever-widening list of alleged “abuses”
- Dilution/diffusion (ever broadening definition of “family” to include a growing list of “alternative lifestyles”)
- Increasing control over personal health, including life and death decisions
- Promoting radical feminism and materialism, which undermine and scatter the family
- Attacking the traditional amazingly complementary roles of family members
- Facilitating a progressively increasing dependence on government
- Replacing traditional family values with evolution-rooted post-modern views (no god; no absolute/objective truth; no single universal set of best values)
- Promoting multiculturalism over traditional Judeo-Christian culture and values
- Adopting a suffocating array of ever increasing over-zealous and over-reaching regulations
All is not lost. God is still in charge. By a huge majority, Americans still claim a faith in God. If they learn the importance of voting for candidates of strong character, we’ll be well on the road to recovering freedom and reducing government intrusion into family life.
The Founders referred to the right to vote as won with blood, precious, important and vital. They also often referred to voting as casting the “sacred vote.” We are called to vote for candidates of strong character, because one of our great purposes in this life is to grow in godly character. Only candidates exhibiting strong character are able to understand the importance of God-given freedom.
What do you think? Are you willing to fight and vote for freedom restoration for your children and grandchildren?
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Your Worldview Drives Who You Are, What You Think, the Decisions You Make, and How You Act!
What Is a Worldview? Why Should I Care?
Everyone has a worldview, whether they know it or not. A worldview is a soul-deep spiritual-level conviction regarding life’s most basic questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? The most basic conviction arises from a personal determination, either by investigation or by tacitly going along with the cultural crowd, regarding the existence or non-existence of God. That conviction becomes the passion that drives the rest of a person’s life.
Consider the difference between an emotional passion and a spiritual passion, which is easily clarified with a sports analogy. Suppose your favorite NFL football team has a great season and makes it all the way to the Super Bowl. For a week or so, before the big game the excitement builds until it becomes hard to think of anything else. Unless you have the means to travel a long distance and pay a very high price for tickets, you probably invite your friends over on the big day and put on a pot of your favorite chili.
An evening of screaming and hollering leaves you nearly voiceless. Win or lose, the game is the topic of water cooler conversation for the next day or so. Then—it’s gone—it’s over—just another statistic in sports history. That is an emotional passion. It is a temporary emotional roller coaster ride. It is great fun, but just does not last.
In contrast, consider the Olympic athlete who intensely trains for four, eight, twelve, or sixteen years enduring considerable pain along the way often sacrificing important aspects of life such as dating or family, in a relentless pursuit of the privilege of competing for one or a small number of Olympic medals. The medals do not have a great deal of tangible value and only a privileged few are ever pictured on the front of a Wheaties cereal box. However, the victories represented by the medals do attach significance and meaning to the life of the competitor, satisfying deep spiritual needs.
The victories or near victories separate the athlete from the vast majority of others who participate in the same sport, from childhood teams all the way to the Olympic team. Winning an Olympic medal is truly a world class achievement. Such an enduring passion and total commitment is a spiritual passion. The championship Super Bowl team may have pursued a spiritual passion as well. But for the fans, the game is merely an emotional passion.
A spiritual passion is the soul-deep conviction that forms a worldview and drives all aspects of life, including the choices made to satisfy the deepest spiritual yearnings for significance and meaning in life. Currently, there is a well-known credit card marketing campaign that uses the tag line, “What’s in your wallet?” The sponsors want their card to be in the deepest most secure part of your wallet, from where it will be used to transact most of your future purchases. Similarly, the worldview that is in your spiritual “wallet” will control most of life’s “transactions.” Consequently, the often taken-for-granted, neglected, or innocently assimilated worldview takes on monumental significance. Ultimately, there are only two worldviews. Either God exists or God does not exist.
Most of the early settlers arriving on the North American shores were seeking religious freedom. Their predetermined worldview confirmed the existence of God and His exclusive role as the only agent capable of completely satisfying all of a person’s spiritual needs. Judeo-Christian tradition formed both the foundation and the driving force of their lives.
Two hundred years later, the same culture became embedded in the culture of the United States of America, codified through the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Although not everyone in the fledgling nation was a devout Christian believer, Judeo-Christian tradition so permeated the culture that it had a strong influence on virtually everyone’s sense of right and wrong, moral behavior, personal conduct, and interpersonal relationships. The American culture experienced a unique cohesiveness that successfully resisted the negative influences of other philosophies or belief systems.
As a result, the United States was blessed with remarkably close families and an abundance of prosperity. Unprecedented intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth produced an outstanding quality-of-life resulting in generally good or improving personal health and a rich network of interpersonal relationships, beginning with the family and working outward. Similarly, America has enjoyed the world’s highest standard-of-living, related to accumulated material blessings. Both emerged from a God-centered worldview.
An opposing worldview, championed by pagan religious systems for several millennia, received a credibility boost when Charles Darwin published, The Origin of the Species By Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life in 1859. His concepts became known as the theory of evolution. Unlike passive religious systems, advocates for evolution quickly developed a confrontational relationship with Judeo-Christian tradition, because evolution appeared to provide a naturalistic explanation for every living and non-living thing in the universe. The naturalistic explanation became the basis for denying or marginalizing the existence of God. Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul accurately described the confrontation. To other believers we are the “fragrance of life;” to evolution-driven people, we are the “smell of death.” [2 Corinthians 2:15-16]
The two opposing worldviews rest on the most fundamental question of the ages. Does God exist? The Judeo-Christian worldview says that God of love absolutely does exist and is personally interested in our earthly affairs and our ultimate eternal destination. The Judeo-Christian worldview is supported by nature and God’s revelation of Himself throughout Divinely inspired inerrant Scripture—The Holy Bible.
The evolutionary worldview, championed by Charles Darwin and a host of others purports that all life forms emerged from a combination of extraordinary lengths of time, chance, and necessity (natural physical laws). Although the scientific support for the theory is astonishingly thin, the culture’s blind confidence in science has enabled the theory of evolution to be widely accepted as fact—a “fact” which has had catastrophic effects on the American culture.
People of faith often find themselves caught in the crossfire between the two major worldviews. Most people do not spend hours and hours sitting around discussing the details of the theory of evolution or its impact on society. However, they do emerge from the public school system and many private school systems with an embedded bottom line image of man as simply a highly evolved animal. The schools disallow any discussion of the flaws of evolution or any possible alternatives.
For Christians and others, the mental image of mankind as a product of evolution is sufficient to cast doubt on the Genesis accounts of the beginnings, creating a vulnerability to increasing cultural pressure that is continually reinforced by politicians, news media, all manner of entertainment outlets, neighbors, work associates, and friends. The cultural pressure has been so great that there have been increasing attempts to compromise Scripture to accommodate science.
Whoa! What exactly is being compared? “The Bible is supreme truth, and therefore it is the standard by which scientific theory should be evaluated, not vice versa. Scripture is God’s own eyewitness account of what happened in the beginning.” John MacArthur Why should anyone seek to compromise God’s perfect Word to achieve apparent consistency with the woefully incomplete and imperfect findings of human scientists? What do you think?
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All Freedom Comes From God; Governments Take It Away!
All freedom comes from God. The truest most perfect freedom existed only in the Garden of Eden. Ever since, the pride of mankind has caused power and authority to concentrate with time, resulting in the progressive loss of freedom. The nearly inescapable end result is tyranny. The loss of freedom has been experienced in all cultures and political systems throughout recorded history. When freedom exists to any extent, it will be lost unless it is fervently and aggressively protected, by the people (YOU). Consider the flow:
“…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” 2 Corinthians 3:17 KJV
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1 KJV
All civilizations begin in a condition of chaos and anarchy with no external control by government or any other authority. Consider what might happen if you went down in a commercial airliner crash and became part of 100 survivors stranded on a remote uncharted island with no means of communication and little chance of rescue.
You and the other survivors initially work together for survival determining how to meet the immediate needs for food and shelter. Soon, however, disagreements break out, tending to escalate with time. At some point, a council of volunteers or elected members forms to draft guidelines for assuring more harmonious living among the survivors.
The guidelines prohibit certain actions and mandate others. But the voluntary guidelines are only partially effective and conflict continues. A mechanism is designed and designated people are given the authority to monitor compliance with the guidelines, seek violators, and punish them in a predetermined fashion. The guidelines have now become the beginnings of enforceable law.
Whoa! What just happened? All freedom…that’s right, all freedom comes from God as the incredible gift of free will, bounded only by certain moral limitations that He applies for harmonious living and to protect you and others from physical, emotional, and spiritual harm. Those limitations are an expression of His infinite and enduring love. Any form of government can only can only limit or deny any particular freedoms. Governments can only wield money and power in an impersonal way; they have no moral authority or ability.
Government continues to be “of the people, by the people, and for the people” as long as the laws passed and regulations adopted conform to or are aligned with Scriptural mandates as indicated by the region in the Figure labeled “Representative Government.” Such laws and regulations protect freedom.
God-given freedom powered by His love and limited by Scriptural boundaries—primarily the prohibitions of the Ten Commandments and moral/ethical limitations on behavior—depend on voluntary restraint. The prohibitions and limitations were given for the benefit of mankind to assure the richness of the human experience.
“From the day of the Declaration…they [the American people] were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledged as the rules of their conduct” John Quincy Adams
“Though, when a people shall have become incapable of governing themselves and fit for a master, it is of little consequence from what quarter he comes.” George Washington
When laws are passed and regulations adopted extend beyond the region designed to protect freedom, then freedom is progressively lost. There is no reliable barrier along the road to tyranny. What do you think?
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“God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.”
Daniel Webster
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Husbands, Would Your Wife Rather Be Home? Encourage Her!
The modern American culture has swerved so far away from the 7-millennium long traditional family-centered culture to the current career-centered culture that young women are virtually forced by cultural pressure to pursue a career as a higher priority than the family. Some have claimed it is possible to have it both ways. The reality is that more and more women are discovering that by definition there can only be one priority. If the priority is career, the family will suffer now and later.
Many women would genuinely prefer to be a homemaker. But those who are brave enough to face the wolfish cultural pressure may be confronted by another barrier closer to home. Today, many married men presumptively expect their wives to have a money-earning job outside the home.
Traditionally—at least up until a few decades ago—men would be embarrassed if their wives worked outside the home. The men were proud of their ability to provide for the material needs and the security of their home. In just a few short decades, their pride succumbed to radical feminist pressures and transitioned to, “Honey, it’s OK to get a job if you want to; either way is OK with me.” The laisse-faire attitude, which was often interpreted by women as uncaring eventually became today’s, “Honey, you MUST have a job to help pay all of the bills.”
Severe cultural pressures and often poor financial planning create formidable barriers for the would-be homemaker. Here’s the rub! Men, if any of you are pressuring your wife to pursue a career, rather than encouraging her to be a homemaker, God has a very direct and stern warning for you. As you read the quote in three translations, remember, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:”
- “The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory forever. Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.” [Micah 2:9-10 King James Version]
- “You drive the women of my people from their pleasant homes. You take away my blessing from their children forever. Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy.” [Micah 2:9-10 New International Version]
- “You throw my people’s women out of the homes they love. You deprive their children of my glory forever. Get up and go! You can’t stay here! Because [the land] is now unclean, it will destroy you with a grievous destruction.” [Mikhah 2:9-10 Complete Jewish Bible]
The clarity of the three scripture translations is inescapable. Regardless of today’s cultural pressures, a husband must not encourage his wife to pursue a job outside the home. Whether or not she actually does is another discussion. However, first consider this:
God views the entirety of history as a continuum from Creation through the coming of the Messiah. He sees a holistic master portrait. That portrait includes a seamless parade of generations, each receiving the baton of civilization from the previous generation and passing it on to the next generation. At least that is His intent.
The woman as wife and mother is the link between generations. She learns from the previous generation, primarily from her mother, gives birth to the next generation, and is primarily responsible for nurturing and raising the next generation to become men and women of strong character, capable of carrying the baton of civilization onward to the following generation. She is ultimately responsible for the cohesiveness of the family and the sustainability of the culture.
The passage in Micah 2:9 indicates that when the homemaker is “cast out,” driven out, or thrown out of the home, to pursue material goals, the missing link forms a disconnect in the flow of generations and the preservation of civilization. The disconnect deprives the children of God’s glory for a very long time—the passage says, “forever.”
Visualize the disconnect as a seamless hand-knit sweater. When a single piece of yarn is broken, a slight tug causes the entire sweater to unravel. Similarly, the entire fabric of America unravels and is rapidly unraveling today when the family link in time is broken. Wow! That’s heavy; think about it for a few moments.
The greatest expression of love between a married man and woman is the birth of a child. New parents often cry out, “It’s a miracle from God!” and so it is. The child remains every bit as much a miracle at ages 2, 5, 10, 16 or beyond. The miracle child is on loan from God throughout the growing years. God has assigned the enormous responsibility to the parents, primarily the mother, to care for and raise His created miracle to become an adult of strong character who will continue to honor God and pass along an improved baton to the following generation. How could anything be a higher priority?
God places very high and challenging expectations on the woman. Her husband’s job is to make her job easy. One day, the parents causing or contributing to a disconnect at the expense of the children will be accountable to God. If that is you, what will you say, when God asks, “What did you do with my miracle?”
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Education and Religion Are Inseparable!
Scripture assigns to parents the primary responsibility of educating their children [Deuteronomy 12:10 and Proverbs 4:1-7]. That assignment directly from God has never changed. In time, the parents were aided by religious institutions assuring a seamless character building process from birth to adulthood and beyond. Eventually, government schools assumed the responsibility for educating the children. Initially, the government sponsored public schools supported the religious mission so well that the parents and religious institutions began to abandon much of their God-assigned responsibilities for educating the children. But, beginning in the 1960s, the government kicked God out of the schools eventually banning most forms of religious expression in schools and virtually all other public places.
Consequently, today’s public educational system is experiencing a major crisis. It has been hijacked by the liberal progressive movement and deprived of emotional and spiritual influences in order to emphasize the “academics,” in preparation for the assumed priority of career over family in the life of every rising young man and young woman. Evolution-driven materialism recognizes no other educational goals. Since evolution does not recognize the existence of a spirit of any kind and emotions are regarded as a nuisance interfering with really important things, all that is left is knowledge devoid of any real wisdom. As a result, the public school system has become heavily embedded with humanistic evolution-driven principles and worldview. There is a new evangelism in the public schools. Humanist John Dunphy proclaimed that:
“I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being. These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort…utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of educational level—preschool, day care, or large state university. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new—the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism.”
But others, far better known and respected than Dunphy loudly proclaimed starkly opposing views long before America’s founding and continuing seamlessly until recent decades. Consider this sampling:
- “I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God’s Word becomes corrupt…I greatly fear that the [schools], unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates to Hell.” Martin Luther
- “[T] Bible…should be read in our schools in preference to all other books.” Dr. Benjamin Rush
- “The only foundation for useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion.” Thomas Jefferson
- “Religion is the only solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man toward God.” Gouverneur Morris
- “Education is useless without the Bible.” Noah Webster
- “Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of all free government, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society.” John Adams
- “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens.” George Washington
- Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil. C. S. Lewis
Children in the American government-controlled public schools devote twelve of their most vulnerable years learning to demand rights and not accept responsibility for much of anything, while being indoctrinated in the devastating self-centered evolution-driven principles of humanism. Those going on to college spend an additional four years raising to the professional level their abilities to demand rights and avoid personal responsibilities.
Values will always be taught. Nature abhors a vacuum. When selfless Judeo-Christian values are banned, the self-serving humanist values will fill the vacuum. Several decades of experience with humanistic values have produced tragic results. More in an upcoming blog. For now, what do YOU think?
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Happiness in the New Year Depends on Virtuous Living!
This time of year “Happy New Year” is everywhere. The greeting is repeated so often, it almost seems as if it is on autopilot. The New Year is celebrated with parties, prayers, parades, and football games. But how can we assure happiness in the New Year?
Happiness is often equated with momentary or short-term excitement. “My favorite team won the Super Bowl!” “I got an ‘A’ in chemistry!” “She said ‘YES!’” There is no doubt about it; everyone enjoys that type of feel-good excitement. But it is based on emotion; it does not last. No one can live on a perpetually emotional high.
In contrast, a lifetime of long-term happiness has deeper spiritual roots that provide the support to withstand life’s challenges and hardships as well as celebrate the victories. That dimension of happiness reflects an inner joy anchored in a robust faith in God. Ever since Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden for disobeying God, every life has experienced occasional or sometimes long-term suffering. But a robust faith provides a clear vision of the light at the end of the tunnel and an appreciation of the character building opportunities associated with the hardships. The inner joy may be severely challenged but remains secure despite the pain.
Although my late wife never suffered any real physical pain, she did endure the progressive loss of physical mobility and mental capacity. Did her suffering have a purpose? Absolutely! Her experience dramatically and permanently changed my life and has had a rapidly expanding rippling effect on everyone with whom I come in contact. I explained to a rather large crowd at her memorial service that she and God gave me one of the greatest gifts I have ever received—the wonderful and glorious gift of tears. As a man, an engineer trained in logic, and the product of a rather stoic family, where there was not much room for a manly expression of tears. But the wonderful and glorious gift of tears stirred by seven years of accommodating her progressive loss opened up to me whole new realms of life experience both emotionally and spiritually that were not previously available. I became much more sensitive to the needs of disabled people and virtually everyone else as well. Her experience also contributed greatly to the motivation to write a book.
Here’s the deal: Ultimately, happiness is the result of living a virtuous life. How boring is that? Actually, a virtuous life is not boring at all; it is very rich, satisfying, and happy. During George Washington’s First Inaugural Address, he emphasized, “…there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists…an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness…” To President Washington, the link between “goodness and happiness” was plain and inescapable.” Further, Noah Webster found that, “If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad man to make and administer the laws.” A life based on virtues anchored deeply in the soul produces goodness of choices and actions that ignite a happy and joyful spirit within an individual and ultimately across cultures.
Happy New Year to YOU!
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What Do Jews Think About Christmas Celebrations?
Nearly all Americans (93%) celebrate Christmas. Only an extremely tiny minority would object to the greeting, “Merry Christmas,” a cherry greeting roughly equivalent to, “I love you,” Yet, political correctness, championed by the liberal/progressive movement, has effectively eliminated the Merry Christmas greeting from public life as well as nativity scenes and other symbols of Christmas.
In contrast, consider what three nationally-known Jewish leaders have to say about Christmas celebrations:
Burt Prelutsky, a Jewish columnist for a number of national publications, declares:
I never thought I’d live to see the day that Christmas would become a dirty word. . . . How is it, one well might ask, that in a Christian nation this is happening? . . . Speaking as a member of a minority group – and one of the smaller ones at that – I say it behooves those of us who don’t accept Jesus Christ as our savior to show some gratitude to those who do, and to start respecting the values and traditions of the overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens, just as we keep insisting that they respect ours. Merry Christmas, my friends!
Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Daniel Lapin agrees:
Secular fundamentalism has successfully injected into American culture the notion that the word “Christmas” is deeply offensive. . . . Anti-Christianism is unhealthy for all Americans; but I warn my brethren that it will prove particularly destructive for Jews. . . . Let us all go out of our way to wish our many wonderful Christian friends – a very merry Christmas. Just remember, America’s Bible belt is our safety belt.
Orthodox Jewish radio host and creator of PragerUniversity.com Dennis Prager writes:
As a Jew, and a religious one at that, I want to wish my fellow Americans a Merry Christmas. Not “Happy Holidays.” Merry Christmas…
It doesn’t matter with which religion or ethnic group you identify; Christmas in America is as American as the proverbial apple pie. That is why some of the most famous and beloved Christmas songs were written by guess who? Jews.
- White Christmas—Irving Berlin
- Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer—Johnny Marks
- Let It Snow! Let It snow! Let It Snow!—July Styne/Sammy Cahn
- Silver Bells—Jay Livingston/Ray Evans
- The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an Open Fire—Mel Torme/Robert Wells
- Sleigh ride-–Mitchell Parish
and many others.
The notion that non-Christians are excluded is absurd.
It never occurred to my Orthodox Jewish family not to enjoy this season. It was a tradition in our home to watch the Christmas Mass from the Vatican every Christmas Eve…Had you visited our home, you would have seen my mother—and my father, my brother and I all wearing our kippot (Jewish skull-caps)—watching Catholics celebrate Christmas…
So when and why did this pernicious nonsense of non-Christians being “excluded” by public celebration of Christmas develop?
It is nothing more than another destructive product of the 1960s and 1970s, when the left came to dominate much of the culture.
There you have it! Say “Merry Christmas” everywhere; say it again and again and again. Say Merry Christmas with love every time. Saying it mechanically, without love betrays the greeting and the Lord.
So—Spread the Deliberate Joy; spread the merriment. After all, love is contagious. And—don’t forget the reason for the season!
Blogging YOU the warmest and merriest Christmas ever!
The first two quotes were abstracted from http://www.wallbuilders.com. The third quote is from wnd.com magazine, Whistleblower, “Of Messiahs False and True,” December 2014.
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Big Government is NOT Sustainable
Of course much of small government discussion in a recent blog is viewed as irrelevant by people who are skeptical of the Bible and whose life is largely driven by the theory of evolution. Since people are assumed to be merely the highest evolved animal, it appears reasonable for the best and brightest to be given whatever authority is necessary to make decisions for the masses and whatever resources are necessary to execute their authority. Hence, the virtually uncontrolled expansion of big government:
- There is never enough power or money to satisfy the ego and pride of people in control.
- In the absence of spiritual and emotional influences, decisions tend to be made on a cold practical utilitarian basis, unshackled by the notions of purpose or principle.
- Individual freedom is progressively lost as government demands more and more power.
The power continues to concentrate and government grows until it becomes unsustainable Totalitarian power becomes the inevitable endpoint. The relentless drive to achieve uniformity and “fairness” stifles individual creativity. A major problem is that fairness like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. There is simply no universally agreed upon definition or standard of fairness. Nevertheless, the notion of fairness continues to resonate well with many voters. In contrast, the Scriptural standard is an integration of judgment and mercy. When the two concepts are in opposition, mercy wins. “…mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” [James 2:13 KJV]
Big Government is evoked by evolution.
- People are controlled by government; power is dispensed by government as “rights” or “benefits.”
- The supporting propaganda is generally unrestricted, because many of the promoters have bought into postmodern thinking, which maintains that there is no absolute truth.
- Big government advocates tend to promote their views with emotion, because the facts of history lead to the inescapable conclusion that small government is better, and because the emotion obscures the cancerous growth of government and feeds the notion that people can get an endless list of freebies from the government.
When YOU compare small government and big government what conclusions to you draw?
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American Exceptionalism Exists! You May Not Know Why.
References to American exceptionalism have recurred with increasing frequency in recent years. Some champion the notion; Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently scoffed at it on several occasions, regarding it as a representation of American arrogance. American exceptionalism arose because a critical mass of Americans looked to God as the source of everything for the first 150 years of United States history.
Because Americans looked to God and loved God they enjoyed His abundant blessings. Americans were blessed with the ability to generate the world’s highest standard-of-living and best quality-of-life. America became the standard of freedom and the envy of people around the globe. People everywhere wanted to become Americans, be like Americans, or copy American styles and fads. America was a leader and a positive role model for the world. Spectacular military successes in two world wars and incomparable economic successes simply reinforced the image of American exceptionalism.
But in recent decades as Americans have increasingly abandoned God His hand of blessing has receded. America’s worldwide reputation for outstanding leadership has been shattered. Leaderless America wanders in a spiritual wilderness, shamelessly and repeatedly elects a government that squanders vast financial and material resources, and has become a worldwide negative role model that regretfully attracts as much attention as did the previous reputation for being a positive role model. People throughout the world still follow America’s downward spiral with as much gusto as they followed America’s upward climb to greatness. America’s influence extends far beyond its shores whether for good or evil.
But without God, Americans are no better than anyone else. American exceptionalism arose not because Americans are exceptional but because God is exceptional. He still is. Does American exceptionalism still exist? You decide. If you lean toward, “no,” know that God is still exceptional. American exceptionalism can again become abundantly visible to the world only to the extent that Americans become once again willing to trust God and to love God. Are YOU willing to become part of it? Individuals of Judeo-Christian tradition and faith-based institutions can no longer be content to rearrange the deck chairs on the rapidly sinking American Titanic.
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Homemaker Enjoys The Most Important Career in the Universe!
A Homemaker enjoys the most influential and vital career in the universe. She is responsible for the stability of a culture and the cohesiveness of the family. She is the panoramic link in time, connecting the generations. She links the past to the future, ancestors to descendants. She is primarily responsible for raising the children in a manner that stabilizes their future and transmits critically important values to the next generation. In short, she makes the home the most desirable place in the universe for her family.
When the homemaker leaves the home, love leaves like air out of a flat tire. The home becomes the house, little more than the building where everyone comes to sleep at night.
Consider the fruit of a family-centered family as opposed to a career-centered family:
- Builds strong cohesive families when Dad is responsible for standard-of-living and Mom is responsible for quality-of-life
- Promotes a partnership between married men and women that grows closer with time
- Children reared by those who love them most…Mom and Dad
- Low risk monogamous sex provides for pleasure and reproduction
- Number and frequency of venereal diseases sharply reduced and largely eliminated
- Few abortions, because the unborn child is an expression of the parents’ love
- One man; one woman; one lifetime is the stable marriage norm accepted for six millennia
- Men and women both desire the stability of marriage
- Stable relationships between a man and a woman due to the certainty of the marriage commitment
- Infrequent divorce due to love and respect for spouse as well as responsibility for children
- Legacy of cultural stability passed on to successive generations
- Children experience and enjoy the complementary influences of a mom and a dad
- “Alternative lifestyles” viewed as against nature, culturally destructive, and inappropriate especially when children are involved
- Children are more stable, less stressed, more secure, and behavior is more predictable and…when necessary…more controllable
- Husband and father is vital to the well-being of the family
- Preserves and reinforces the sanctity of life and sanctity of marriage
- Protects and reinforces the sovereignty of the family
- Lifestyle evokes a happier and healthier woman and strong family relationships
What do you think? Have we lost something vitally important in our modern American culture?
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American Founders Endowed with Uncommon Wisdom!
In recent years, it seems to have become open season on the American Founders. Some have scornfully described the Founders as dead white guys who owned slaves. Well—they’re certainly dead; they were white; and only a few owned slaves and the ones that did, didn’t like the institution. Such will be a topic of another blog. The Founders were actually endowed with uncommon wisdom. To understand them, it is far better to read what they actually said, rather than what some historian may have concluded about them. My upcoming book allows the Founders to speak for themselves. For now, let’s consider the words of just one of them, John Adams. He was a Founder, signer of the Declaration of the United States, Vice President under George Washington, and the second President of the United States.
- June 21, 1776 “Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.” “The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure, than they have it now, they may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty.”
- July 1, 1776 “Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it (Declaration of Independence). All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence forever!“
- In a July 1, 1776 letter to Archibald Bullock, former member of the Continental Congress from Georgia, Adams wrote: “The object is great which We have in View, and We must expect a great expense of blood to obtain it. But We should always remember that a free Constitution of civil Government cannot be purchased at too dear a rate as there is nothing, on this side (of) the New Jerusalem, of equal importance to Mankind.”
- July 3, 1776 “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever. “You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory I can see that the end is worth more than all the means; that posterity will triumph in that day’s transaction, even though we [may regret] it, which I trust in God we shall not.”
- In concern for his sons, John Adams advised his wife Abigail to: “Let them revere nothing but Religion, Morality and Liberty.”
- 11, 1798 (Address to the military) “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.”
- On November 2, 1800, John Adams became the first president to move into the White House. As he was writing a letter to his wife, he composed a beautiful prayer, which was later engraved upon the mantel in the state dining room: “I pray Heaven to bestow THE BEST OF BLESSINGS ON THIS HOUSE and All that shall hereafter Inhabit it, May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.”
- August 28, 1811 “Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of all free government, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society.”
- June 28, 1813 “Now I will avow, that I then believe, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God; and that those Principles of liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System.”
- In a letter to Thomas Jefferson, John Adams wrote: “Have you ever found in history, one single example of a Nation thoroughly corrupted that was afterwards restored to virtue?… And without virtue, there can be no political liberty….Will you tell me how to prevent riches from becoming the effects of temperance and industry? Will you tell me how to prevent luxury from producing effeminacy, intoxication, extravagance, vice and folly?…I believe no effort in favor is lost…“
- In a letter dated November 4, 1816, John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson: “The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion…“
- December 27, 1816 “As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation.” “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have…a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the character and conduct of their rulers.”
Do you agree that at least this Founder was endowed with uncommon wisdom?
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”Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” George Washington
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Small Gov’t/Big Gov’t Part 2: Small Government is Sustainable
Two common discussions prior to the Revolutionary War were:
- When, if ever, is independence permissible despite scriptural admonitions to obey those in governmental authority? [Romans 13:1] The Founders responded in the Declaration of Independence.
- Are the American people sufficiently virtuous to be self governing? The Founders responded in the Constitution of the United States. “Those people who are not ruled by God will be governed by tyrants.” William Penn
The Founders collective response to the two most important and inescapable questions of the day is why the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States must be read and understood together as if written as a single document.
The Founders knew that the emerging U. S. Constitution would have to prevent or strongly inhibit the relentless concentration of power that almost universally characterized world history. But they had very little precedent to rely upon. The very few precedents available to the Founders included ancient Israel and early Anglo-Saxon common law. The principle characteristics were nearly identical:
- They were set up as a commonwealth of freemen. A basic tenet was: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” (Leviticus 25:10) This inscription appears on the American Liberty Bell…
- All the people were organized into small manageable units where the representation of each family had a voice and a vote. This organizing process was launched after Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, saw him trying to govern the people under Ruler’s Law (Exodus 18:13-26)…
- There was specific emphasis on strong, local self-government. Problems were solved to the greatest possible extent on the level where they originated. The record says: “The hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.” (Exodus 18:26)
- The entire code of justice was based primarily on reparation to the victim rather than fines and punishment by the commonwealth… (Exodus, Chapters 21 and 22). The one crime for which no “satisfaction” could be given was first-degree murder. The penalty was death (Numbers 35:31).
- Leaders were elected and new laws were approved by the common consent of the people. (2 Samuel 2:4; I Chronicles 29:22; for the rejection of a leader; 2 Chronicles 10:16; for the approval of new laws, Exodus 19:8)
- Accused persons were presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. Evidence had to be strong enough to remove any question of doubt as to guilt. Borderline cases were decided in favor of the accused and he was released. It was felt that if he were actually guilty, his punishment could be left to the judgment of God in the future life.13
Rev. Thomas Hooker wrote these principles into the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, thus expanding upon the concepts of equality and government by the consent of the governed embodied earlier in the Mayflower Compact. That first modern constitution was subsequently adopted by Rhode Island.14 Nearly 150 years later the principles were codified in the Constitution of the United States.
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Can an Unbeliever Make a Credible Movie About a Biblical Event?
The short answer? No! Throughout the 1950s, there were a number of highly successful Biblical epics made by Hollywood. The most spectacular was Cecil B. DeMille’s, The Ten Commandments. After a very long hiatus, the spectacular success of The Passion of the Christ renewed Hollywood’s interest in Bible-based movies. Recently, a movie called Noah was released and another, Exodus: Gods and Kings is nearing release. Both were made by directors who claim to be atheist or agnostic. Let’s Compare.
At the beginning of the movie, The Ten Commandments, director Cecil B. DeMille did something remarkable. He walked out on a stage to preface the movie with a few heartfelt comments:
Ladies and Gentlemen; young and old; this may seem an unusual procedure, speaking to you before the picture begins, but we have an unusual subject: the story of the birth of freedom; the story of Moses. As many of you know the Holy Bible omits some thirty years of Moses’ life, from the time that he was a three- month old baby and was found in the bull rushes by Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh and adopted into the court of Egypt until he learned that he was Hebrew and killed the Egyptian. To fill in those missing years, we turn to ancient historians such as Philo and Josephus. Philo wrote at the time that Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth; Josephus wrote some fifty years later and watched the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. These historians had access to documents long since destroyed or perhaps lost like the Dead Sea Scrolls. The theme of this picture is whether men ought to be ruled by God’s laws or whether they are to be ruled by the whims of a dictator like Rameses. Are men the property of the State or are they free souls under God? This same battle continues throughout the world today. Our intention was not to create a story, but to be worthy of the divinely inspired story created 3,000 years ago in the five books of Moses.
DeMille’s understanding of the importance of God’s laws was further clarified in the souvenir book distributed along with the movie:
The Ten Commandments are not rules to obey as a personal favor to God. They are fundamental principles without which mankind cannot live together—THE TEN COMMANDMENTS are not laws. They are THE LAW. Man has made 32,000,000 laws since they were handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai more than three thousand years ago, but he has never improved on God’s law.
The movie was clearly DeMille’s labor of love.
In contrast, a movie entitled Noah, about the Biblical worldwide flood was recently released. The director, Darren Aronofsky, is a self-proclaimed atheist. He departed widely from the Biblical account portraying Noah as the first great environmentalist and not mentioning God at all despite over ten references to God in the original. Another movie, Exodus: Gods and Kings is nearing release. The director Ridley Scott, is a self-acknowledged agnostic. Christian Bale the leading man has on separate occasions referred to Moses as schizophrenic and a terrorist. Scott’s rendering has God speaking to Moses through an angry child, rather than the burning bush and at least a few supernatural events, such as the Nile River turning to blood, are explained in natural terms. In the case of the Nile, a non-Biblical plague of crocodiles feeds on people whose blood turns the river red.
Can an evolution-driven humanistic director possibly make a God-honoring movie when he disavows the existence of God? The Ten Commandments was made to glorify God; the modern depictions of Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings were made to glorify Hollywood and the creativity of man. Cecil B. DeMille felt morally and spiritual bound to present Biblical history as accurately and respectfully as possible. Aronofsky and Scott claim no such allegiance. To them, the Biblical “stories” are merely a starting point. They feel free to depart from Scripture as often and as widely as they choose to achieve their goal of an agenda-filled entertaining movie. The state-of-the-art is such that the modern movies can be wildly entertaining but at what price?
Flashback! For decades preceding World War II, Hollywood elites were fascinated supporters of Joseph Stalin and communism in general. The pre-war communist influence in Hollywood has been well documented. At that time, American Communist Party leader Earl Browder discouraged the making of propaganda films. Instead, he encouraged movie makers to slip in “a drop of progressive thought” in regular movies, about five minutes in each movie. In the decades since WWII, Hollywood continued and still does have a love affair with socialism, which is communism-lite. The agendas in Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings are clear. Despite the entertaining nature of the movies, the makers want to discredit Judo-Christian tradition by displacing it with humanist values and goals.
In 1956, Cecil B. DeMille billed his movie, The Ten Commandments, as the story of “the birth of freedom.” It was the story of the Moses-led exodus of the ancient Israelites, following 400 years of slavery in Egypt. Many centuries after the Hebrews were freed from Egyptian bondage, that God-given freedom was codified successively in the Magna Carta (1215), the Mayflower Compact (1620), the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639) and the Constitution of the United States (1787).
It is difficult to avoid billboards. But YOU get to choose movie, television, and Internet experiences. All are powerful art forms, powerful because they reach the depths of the soul branding an imprint in a powerful and lasting way. No art form is neutral; it will either lift the soul toward God or drag the soul down. There is no movie, television show, or Internet experience that is just entertainment and nothing else. Even if the art form does not have an explicit agenda, it absolutely does reflect the worldview of its creator. As they say in the radio editorials, “That’s our view; we welcome yours.”
Dr. Lloyd Stebbins 