Looking for Hope

The "good old days," a bygone era 

Assuming that you are more than nine years old, and unless you've had your head safely tucked under a rock, you are probably aware that the world around us has changed.

Prior to September 11, 2001 this was a much different country than it is today. Sure, we whined and complained, but we could get on a plane with little more than a ticket and boarding pass (and with a lot more luggage for a lot less price) and unlike today, retain our dignity in the process. There were millions more of us who had jobs, we could afford decent medical care, and we still had some semblance of privacy. As a nation we still had allies we could count on, and who could still count on us. While we had plenty of disagreements, for the most part the world was relatively stable, both geologically and socially. Then the world changed, and so did we; slowly at first, but now social change is happening at a more rapid pace. The Earth itself is in upheaval and society is freefalling toward chaos. That last part is no accident.

Until three years ago, we were still respected throughout the world, even (grudgingly) by our enemies, because we had a President who knew how to lead without surrendering our national dignity. But now we have a president who seemingly came from nowhere, has accelerated and exacerbated the trashing of our economy, has pushed our military to the brink of exhaustion while giving more aid and confidence to our enemies, has humiliated himself and this nation before the rest of the world, has emboldened our enemies and alientated our friends, and is redesigning this government on a neosocialist model which I believe will ultimately be the worst combination of the old Soviet Union and Huxley's Utopia. He has the attitude and arrogance of a king, with the leadership abilities of a demagogue.

Although children born within the last decade won't realize it because this is their "normal," things are dramatically diffferent today, and they are likely to get even more so in the months and years to come. We are witnessing an era marked by gross disrespect for the preborn, the very young, the elderly, and the peacefully patriotic. We are seeing continual diminishing of our right to free speech, freedom to peaceably assemble, right to dissent, right to protect ourselves, right to own and do as we wish with our own property, not to mention the right to life itself. A complicit news media distorts the truth to foster revolution. And the attacks against our freedoms have come from both sides of the aisle.

As people grasp for hope in increasingly difficult times, it is continually being pulled further away from us. One 'hand' doing the pulling are atheists.  Instead of being simply a personal choice, atheism as a movement has become more agressive, with its often nihilistic proponents initiating innumerable frivolous lawsuits against anything associated with Christianity (but oddly, virtually never against Islam).

Recently some have begun proselytizing their non-faith to the point of following the example of homosexual activists and trying to popularize it in movies, with TV sure to follow. On the other hand, our churches - the final bastion of organized hope - have been so deeply undermined that many are all-but-empty, and the preaching from many pulpits has become so radically separated from their world-changing founding document - the Holy Bible - that people are either flocking to some churches because they pander to man's weakest traits or they are running away from them because of their blatant fraudulence.

I'm undoubtedly going to ruffle feathers here, but if a church grossly violates biblical principles by redefining biblical doctrine, it should not even be called a Christian church. That applies especially to those denominations which cherry-pick the particular verses that can be twisted to a completely different meaning from their original intent, and those that ignore the Bible completely as the authoritative source of doctrine and information regarding the faith.

I know some readers are chomping at the bit to challenge me. "What do I consider as true biblical doctrine?" they're asking. My response would be that Christians should be following the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic Covenant, and the so-called "eleventh" commandment of Jesus Christ; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-40).

It must be noted, however, that the Commandments were given to make us aware of our sinfulness before God, and that each of us is flawed, violating one or more of those laws either in our body or our thoughts, all of which are accountable before Him. To God, there are no greater or lesser crimes; all offenses are punishable by death, because a perfect God cannot tolerate imperfection; and as any thinking person will admit, a little disease (sin) soon spreads and contaminates the whole body. And because we are "faulty," and cannot free ourselves from the ultimate penalty, the Father offers us a means to save us from eternal punishment. Christ Jesus came to provide that Way to escape.

Christians, by default, should be bound by the New Covenant which is symbolized by baptism in Christ, because it was His sacrifice on the cross that provides salvation for us. For those who don't believe, nothing I say will convince them. We could have endless discussions on biblical doctrine and religous philosophy, but this forum is too limited, and I'll be the first to admit I don't have all the answers. God provides an option, but each of us chooses his own path. My real concern is that many are willing to believe, yet are confused by clever wolves in pastor's clothing who twist scripture to twist minds.

Rev. Wright and Fr. Pfleger
preach marxist revolution theology

There are now, for example, so-called mainstream "churches" that are attempting to gut the concept of the Holy Trinity; for example, abandoning the concept of God the Father. As the Father image is the superior aspect of the Trinity, the attempt to minimize or remove Him from the equation is nothing less than an attempt to destroy the faith at its very foundation, and those who preach such blasphemy from the pulpit are worse than mere liars.

But this all fits in with a larger plan initiated by the communist party that has been in effect for a long time. Concerning the Church, their goals were:

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

This plan was exposed back in 1963. Look at it, and then look around you. Has it been successful or not?
As I noted earlier, we each choose our own path, even if others limit our choices. Too many of us have either remained in the dark or silent, and the enemy isn't just at the gates, they are well within the gates. Our choices are now narrowing between life or death, prosperity or poverty, peace or war, courage or cowardice. Make your decision soon, or someone else will make it for you.

Taking the Higher Ground

The so-called Ground Zero Mosque (GZM) is a story that refuses to go away. Or more pointedly, the people who want it to happen won't allow it to go away, because they consistently rub it in our faces. I noted my own major objection last time, so I'll look at other views instead.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, taking a moment away from her duties to her fellow Leftist constituents in San Francisco (and breaking with other Leftists including desperate-for-votes Harry Reid and Howlin' Howard Dean), couldn't resist the temptation to add her two depreciated cents on the matter, not surprisingly giving her support for the mosque. On Tuesday, she told reporters that "I think everyone respects the right of people in our country to express their religious beliefs on their property." After missing the point with that remark, she immediately followed up with an accusation that Republicans were somehow "ginning up" the controversy, sayin that, "I join those who have called for looking into how...this opposition to the mosque [is] being funded."  Should we be surprised that she doesn't feel a need to find out who is funding the GZM itself?

Meanwhile, the congregation of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the only church actually destroyed by the 9-11 attack (when Tower Two collapsed on it) is being stonewalled by city officials in its bid to rebuild the church, in part because their plan to rebuild it would cause the church to rise above the proposed Ground Zero Memorial (which still isn't complete, nearly ten years later). Obviously, no such height restrictions have been placed on the GZM Mosque project.

Religion remains one of the most unifying - and divisive - elements of human personal and social behavior.  More good has been done in the name of God than under any other banner. More evil has been done in the rejection of God than for any other expressed reason.  And there has also been no small degree of crossover in both causes. Individual interpretations of faith - or the lack thereof - have literally meant the difference between improving the quality of life for millions, or directly causing the deaths of millions. 

President Obama's own vision of his faith, as he describes it, appears to be a highly personalized yet vaguely-defined and fundamentally unscriptural version of the Holy Bible which allows him to pursue social change according to his political agenda, yet not feel any deep commitment to God's own stated requirements for us.  "[He finds] it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell," he states in a 2004 interview.  What I would consider an alarm bell occurs when, asked "what is sin?", Obama defines it simply as "Being out of alignment with my values."  His values, not God's.  That leaves a lot of territory open to interpretation.  Just a poor choice of words?  I dunno; he's the one with the Harvard degree. I never went to college, so perhaps I'm just to dull and ignorant to grasp his deeper nuance.

I will tell you that, after decades of being lost in selfishness, loneliness, sinfulness (according to God's word) and near-death experience, I finally came - almost grudgingly and over several years - to what I believe is a saving faith. I can tell you that no one comes to real faith on their own; it just doesn't seem like much fun, at least when you don't know much about it. You're either raised in that belief (and it therefore becomes habit at an early age), or you're convinced by someone else, or you discover it within your own self through personal experience and observation. 

I'm of the "school" that believes God Himself calls those He chooses to call, and He guides our path through life, and that he eventually led me, stumbling and bumbling, to what I now believe. Is that cruel, to think most people aren't saved? Perhaps, but for me at least, it isn't quite that simple. I also believe many delude themselves into believing they are saved, yet use that belief to justify their own sinfulness. Guess what: I could be just as guilty of such delusion as anyone else. I trust in God, I know He is in charge of my life (even though I don't even approach sinlessness), and that trust keeps me plodding along, trying my best to be a better person - a better Christian - than my natural inclinations would lead me to be.  And keep in mind, Christianity gives you a choice. Now, you may believe differently than me. Refer to my point above. I'm honest enough with myself to realize I could be wrong (although of course I don't think I am). But so could you.  The best we can do is to follow our conscience; He already knows how it will all turn out.

"Hero" worship.  New information has finally come to light that might have affected history much differently if it had been more well-known. Adolf Hitler was always portrayed to the German people (before his election as Chancellor) as a WW1 war hero. But according to a researcher, he was little more than a rear-echelon messenger, who was looked down on by the men at the front.  Hmmm...an unknown candidate who comes from obscurity and is hyped up as a larger-than-life fugure in order to get elected to the highest office in the land. Why does that sound familiar? [Note: translation of the Hitler propaganda poster says, "Give me 4 years' time."]

Get your mind "right."  There is a new, independently-owned, conservative TV network lauching September 8. RightNetwork hopes to be able to give a place and a voice for the not-so-Left-minded (wouldn't that be "right-brained") folks to settle in for news, entertainment, history, commentary and more. Kelsey Grammar has been doing promos for the network in advance of the opening. Ambitious, yes; and the sort of change I've been hoping for.  If it's not on your local cable (or satellite) provider's fall lineup, call and ask, "Why not?"

Thanks to Glenn Beck's website for putting up the Leftist think-tank Politico's new PowerPoint presentation designed to convince people to support Obamacare. There's plenty to discuss among the two dozen slides, but the very last point on the last slide was perhaps the most telling, in a way they probably didn't intend. The final "Do Not..." it warns the activists of is, "...say the law will reduce costs and deficit." 'Nuff said.

By the way: if you haven't been watching Glenn Beck on his Fox TV show this week, you've missed an incredible exposure of hidden American history, revolving around slavery and civil rights.  Just one more reason I believe Beck is one of God's chosen annunciators "for such a time as this."