The Cause of the American - European Crisis

I will try to keep this as short and sweet as possible. The cause of the crisis is simple, and if you really think about my theory, you should also understand that it's really just a matter of common sense, and you’ll ask yourself why our politicians are not talking about it publically and also why this has been going on for so many years and no one has tackled the problem.

The simple version of the American - European Crisis is that American and European private sector factories have been closing down for years and consequently private sector tax paying jobs have been and are being lost in the process. Simultaneously there has been an expansion of government programs and jobs that are replacing the lost private sector jobs. One reason this truth has been hidden for years is because the true unemployment numbers have been hidden due to government jobs being silently filled over time by the private sector jobs that were lost. There is a transfer of wealth from the United States and the Europeans directly to China. Their private sector "taxpaying" jobs are building up while the private sector here in the United States and also in Europe is in decline. Consequently, the strength of China's economy is directly supported by the United States and Europe. Their incomes and way of life are improving and our incomes and way of life are declining.

An analogy for transferring wealth between countries is as simple as two people exchanging money. It's easy to understand that if I give you $100, then you have $100 more and I have $100 less than I did before the transaction. Now consider that analogy on an international level. Every product that you buy that is made in China (or any other country who's labor prices are far less than the United States or Europe) represents a factory and jobs in that particular country. Let me repeat that statement because it is very important that you understand it. EVERY product that you purchase off the shelf here in the United States or in Europe that is made in China (or any other country who's labor prices are far less than ours) represents a factory with employees in THAT particularly country (not our country). When you purchase that product, your money (at least a good portion of it) goes to that country and is "directly" supporting the growth of industry and tax paying jobs in that country instead of your own. I keep mentioning "tax paying jobs" which is important because every "taxpaying job" that is lost in our country means less money going into the U.S. Treasury and also less money going into the Social Security Trust Fund. It's also important to understand that as government programs and jobs are increasing in numbers at the same time the private sector tax base is in decline, it makes the national deficit grow at an increasing rate. It's also just as important to understand that at the same time the private sector tax base is decreasing, and at a time when President Obama decreased the social security tax a year or so back by 2% and at a time when a great number of the baby boomers are retiring. At the same time the baby boomers are retiring, many of their jobs aren't being replaced which means less people are paying which further covers up the "true unemployment numbers" of the private job sector size decreasing. In other words, their private sector jobs WILL NOT be replaced as the private sector continues its downward spiral.  Also, maybe you've noticed a great swell in fast food restaurants and casino's over the years and a great push politically for casinos, bingo halls, etc.  Yes, these are yet more jobs that replace "product" type factory jobs.  These jobs are more consumer "luxury" type positions and when things get really tight, many of these jobs will disappear as well, as people will not have money to gamble or eat out as much, but they do somewhat temporarily "fill the void" because even though they are not high paying positions, they at least contribute somewhat to the U.S. Treasury in the form of taxes.  The truth is, politicians need the unemployment numbers to remain low, so look for more "creative" job positions to surface as the struggle to keep people working continues.

So the dynamics that are helping create the slow and painful death of our factories and consequently our taxpaying jobs in the United States and the European countries is directly connected to the cheaper labor from other countries which create unfair competition. It's very important that you understand this, because it's killing our economies. The strength of our country lies in the private sector, NOT government jobs, because it's the taxes that are paid by private sector factories, industries and private businesses that pay 100% of every government salary that is in existence. This includes our politicians and our military. Sales tax on products and fuel tax are the only taxes I can think of that do not necessarily apply to that statement, but most sales taxes are localized in the communities they are collected and fuel taxes do go towards maintaining our public roads which is a very small portion of our government.

There is also a wealth of misinformation distributed through different outlets, but this hidden truth has not been discussed in an outright and honest fashion. The very fact that it has been covered up and not addressed for many years either leads us to believe that there is much ignorance, apathy and/or incompetence in our federal government or there is something else going on that lends towards some of the conspiracy "one world government" theories. For the life of me, I can't imagine that degree of ignorance coming out of the best and the brightest our political arena has to offer, which makes me consider some of the conspiracy theories about the new world order and also ask myself how many of our presidential administrations had such big ambitions in the world wide political arena that they basically defecated on our countries best interests in order to "balance out the world economy" and gain international political favors.

Because in the world arena, wealth is just like pouring water from one glass into another, the liquid in the one decreases and the liquid in the other glass increases and at some point, they will even out and in theory that is all labor costs balance out (with our wages being lowered and China's being increased) and we will be able to start supplying products to China, India and the other countries, but what was the cost to get us to that point and who will be the victor when we get there? Also, there are dire consequences and serious defects in the theory that this will be just as good for us as it is China.

The best example I can give is the textile industry. If you have two similar quality t-shirts and put them on a rack at a store for sale, we can quickly surmise that the cheapest shirt will in all probability sell first. If one of those shirts sell for $15 and it is made in the United States (or Europe) and the other shirt sells for $8 and it is made in China (or India) then we see that the $15 shirt represents a factory which represents American (or European) jobs and the $8 shirt represents a factory which represents Chinese (or Indian) jobs. Here lies our problem and is proof of this transfer of wealth and jobs that I am speaking of: Unfair competition is causing a major transfer of wealth and power, the proof lies in common sense and discerning what is true and what is just misinformation coming from the powers that be. Common sense tells us that the majority of people will buy the cheaper shirt and common sense also tells us that the other company that creates the more expensive shirt will struggle to stay in business. We have to compete, but how can we compete with the $8 shirt? We either have to automate and lay off excess workers, pay cheaper wages to the workers we have which lowers the standard of living and lowers the taxes our government receives, or we have to lay off most of our employees and subcontract to the Chinese factory, purchasing t-shirts from them at bulk pricing and still put our "made in America" logo on them.

Some will argue with you that trading with China is fair and that there is a huge market in China, a country that has more than four times the population that we have, but again, common sense rules the day and pushes all of that nonsense to the side. The fact remains, if Americans and Europeans can’t afford to purchase products made in America or Europe, but buy Chinese products instead, you can bet that the lower salaried Chinese people are NOT buying the higher priced American and European made products. Keep in mind that they were more expensive to begin with before shipping charges and you can bet that the Chinese media is not encouraging people to “buy American”.

Many people have noticed the middle class shrinking and believe it's because the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, but I say it's because almost every American (and European) salary has been gradually going through a "shrinking stage" for quite a few years now. If you do not believe me what I am saying, then maybe you can check on the history of the standard of living and wage increases in China and compare it to your country. China's salaries and minimum wage have been increasing and because of the law of supply and demand, factories are prospering and the population of China is increasing at a faster rate than here in the United States, and that is true even though China has very strict "one child policy" per family.

So there you have it. Private sector jobs is what pays taxes and produce results and government jobs, even though they do pay taxes, they still create a net "tax loss" because the taxes they pay do not even pay their own salaries, much less pay for the building space they are in, the insurance and benefits they receive, or in some cases, the car that they drive.

This did not happen overnight. It has been happening for years. Do not believe the misinformation that is handed out to us that this one world economy is a good thing because it is lowering our standard of living while increasing the standard of living for the other countries. That is good for them, but not us. We are accustomed to a certain standard of living. Our main streets are congested with restaurants, we love football, we love all these things, but our politicians have sold us out. Only when our salaries can compete with the Chinese will factories balance out and trading is fair, but what have we gained in the process? What have we lost? The idea that things will be great when that occurs and that we can all live in a world full of harmony working together ideally sounds quite delicious, but in reality it is impossible. Politicians will not easily delete all of those extra government jobs and programs that were added as our factories closed down because of the public outrage. EPA helped put extra strains and regulations on the very factories that closed down because they already could not compete with China, so one analogy is that those factory workers went to work for EPA, FDA, and Homeland Security etc. Quite simply, our private sector tax base is shrinking at an expanding rate, and but government jobs, salaries and buildings that require upkeep are not, therefore the national debt will continue to grow out of hand because no politicians are willing to put their necks on the lines and give us the tough love this country needs so they will continue to expand and spend the little money that remains until there is no choice but to raise our taxes so high that most will not be able to make it. We will have to sacrifice some things and it's going to hurt. There will be chaos.

This is not mainstream press, but if the public ever really wakes, our politicians who have known these things for many years will finally have to confess this truth, or at a minimum "pretend" to send harsh words to China. Political posturing and exaggerated words will not fix the problem however, although creative speech may get someone elected, we are getting to the point that China will not easily accept the changes that are required to be made because in order for our factories to rebuild, many of their factories must close down. Also, creating an atmosphere here to rebuild American factories, whether we add extra taxes on imported goods or decrease regulations on American factories so that we can compete with unfair competitors is a good start, but imagine how many years it will take to slowly rebuild the private sector so that the $8 t-shirt is the same price as the American $15 t-shirt. The other major problem in turning this pattern around is that as we have been buying those $8 t-shirts, our salaries have been decreasing to the point where we can no longer afford the $15 t-shirt and fuel prices have been up since 2008 robbing so many people of their extra available income. China will not be happy about it, and diplomatically there will be some sharp dialog from them towards us, so very strong leadership is required to get our country moving in the right direction again and I'll admit, I see the problem, but I do not see an easy solution. We can only hope, but I am worried that the most important truth of the century will be lost and the struggle will get much worse and I am not looking forward to the chaos that will come.

You might consider that one day, there will be a lot more people protesting in this country and Europe than the current occupy movement, but if they don't wise up, they still won't really understand what got them to the point of why they wanted to protest to begin with. You see, it's the private sector that truthfully runs the economy, not the banks. The banks, rich investors and corrupt politicians are just the gnats sucking blood from the wounds. The wounds are a failing private sector and consequently a diminishing economy.  The national debt is swelling government and a dwindling tax base.

Matthew 12:25 (NIV)
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

Index for Books of the Bible

Old Testament: Books 1 to 39


New Testament: Books 40 to 66

Written by Moses

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy

OT Narratives

6. Joshua
7. Judges
8. Ruth
9. 1 Samuel
10. 2 Samuel
11. 1 Kings
12. 2 Kings
13. 1 Chronicles
14. 2 Chronicles
15. Ezra
16. Nehemiah
17. Esther

Wisdom Literature

18. Job
19. Psalms
20. Proverbs
21. Ecclesiastes
22. Song of Songs

Major Prophets

23. Isaiah
24. Jeremiah
25. Lamentations
26. Ezekiel
27. Daniel

Minor Prophets

28. Hosea
29. Joel
30. Amos
31. Obadiah
32. Jonah
33. Micah
34. Nahum
35. Habakkuk
36. Zephaniah
37. Haggai
38. Zechariah
39. Malachi

NT Narratives

40. Matthew
41. Mark
42. Luke
43. John
44. Acts

Epistles by Paul

45. Romans
46. 1 Corinthians
47. 2 Corinthians
48. Galatians
49. Ephesians
50. Philippians
51. Colossians
52. 1 Thessalonians
53. 2 Thessalonians
54. 1 Timothy
55. 2 Timothy
56. Titus
57. Philemon

General Epistles

58. Hebrews
59. James
60. 1 Peter
61. 2 Peter
62. 1 John
63. 2 John
64. 3 John
65. Jude

Apocalyptic Epistle by John

66. Revelation

The Great Falling Away and Rise of Cults

There is coming a day when there will be a great falling away in the Church, a great rise in the number and influence of cults and also great persecution of Christians. This is Biblical and refers to the "end times".   As Christian influence decreases, the youth that once prospered in the Churches, will fall into other family entities such as cults and gangs.

The Bible does not actually mention the word rapture, but all throughout the New Testament the rapture is spoken of. This is an event when Jesus comes back and all Christians leave the earth to be with God. It's a single event, and the only time when Christians "in mass" will be collected up while they are still alive to be with the Lord in the sky, leaving all non-Christian's behind.

The Bible is VERY clear that no-one knows the time or the date. There have been false prophets for over 2000 years who have tried to predict a date. Predicting a date is completely non-scriptural and therefore those doing the predicting should be completely ignored. However, the Bible does give clues as to the last generation and the Bible states that the end times will occur during the last generation. As you can see, there is a difference between predicting "an actual date" and knowing a particular "time frame". Prophecy states the last generation begins when Israel becomes a nation. We know that the U.N. adopted "Resolution 181" on November 29th, 1947 which approved the creation of the Jewish State of Israel and called for independent status to go into effect by October 1st, 1948. There were 33 countries who voted "yes" and 13 countries that voted "no" to the resolution. The countries that voted no were ironically the same countries that surround Israel and continue to stir up anti-Semitism for the Jews today. They are Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen; all of them Muslim countries except for Greece. History also tells us that Israel declared it's independence on May 14th, 1948.

So, according to the Bible, we do not know the date of the end times and the rapture, but we do know the "last generation" begins when Israel becomes a state. Now, we must find out how long a Jewish generation is and we have a time frame.   However, we could debate whether we're talking about a Jewish generation or a Gentile generation.

Matthew 24:32-34 (NIV)

³² “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it^[a] is near, right at the door. ³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

The Fig Tree is symbolic for the formation of the State of Israel. Israel is often spoken of as being the fig tree in the Old Testament.  Jesus often quoted verses of the old testament when he spoke. Although He did not specifically specify how long a generation was, the following verse from the old testament is a biblical example of what this time frame could be.

Psalm 90:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;

So using simple math we see that a generation would be 70 years after 1948 is 2018 and 80 years is 2028 but technically speaking it could have happened anytime within the 70 or 80 years meaning the last 7 years (considered the tribulation or time of troubles) could begin at any moment.

I wanted to mention a little history before I got into the content of the great falling away and rise of cults. Some consider the great falling away to be the rapture because after the rapture when all Christians are taken up to be with the Lord, there will be a great rise of sin and immorality in the world, simply because there will be no Christians and/or no Christian witness' (at first) here to influence humanity. All of this changes however as new converts and supernatural "witnesses" come on the scene.  Ironically, there is one verse in the Bible that encourages us to not put off Salvation because once the tribulation starts many "will believe a lie" that the anti-Christ tells everyone.  Satan is using propaganda and even Hollywood right now to prep us for this lie.

Others consider the great falling away to be the Christian church becoming apathetic to sin and abusing "grace" by people not repenting of their sins. Certainly we all are saved by grace, but the Bible speaks about "our works" and further states that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17).

Either way, we can easily see that whether by the rapture or through apathy of the church which leads to less spiritual leadership in communities, there could be a great falling away which will lead to a great abundance of sin and immorality.  For you sexual atheists, one might say "one big orgy".

It's a strong belief of mine that apathy in the church and/or the rapture is what will create the "rise of cults". This is Biblical that the closer to the end there will be a great increase of false prophets. To me, I have witnessed this in my own community through a local cult here and the control they have over their members. Many times the members want to be in a seperatist cult because they believe or they are "told" by the cults leaders that the church wasn't there for them and that the "cult is the true church". It's an unfortunate by-product of "people falling between the cracks" in the church.  Then the cult using a battery of techniques to brainwash the members and use very strict and controlling techniques to keep them active and obligated to the cult. Biblically speaking we are to be slaves to "Christ" and not slaves to a cult or to a Church, but if we are slaves to Christ we are to be a part of a Church and likewise work both inside and outside of the church using the gifts that Christ has given us to further His Kingdom.

2 Peter 2:1-2 (NLT)The Danger of False Teachers

¹ But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.

As verse two states, "because of these [false] teachers, the way of truth [Christianity] will be slandered. One reason Christians will be scoffed at and persecuted towards the end of times is that these false prophets will be on the rise and people will see their heresy and believe that "all Christians" must be like that. The hatred towards Christians will grow as will anti-Semitism.

Let's look at John 16:1-5

John 16:1-5 (NIV)

¹ “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. ² They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. ³ They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴ I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them."

There is coming a time when there will be so much hatred against Christians that many people will hate us, after all, if we're not "luke warm" as it speaks of in Revelation, then we might not be entirely politically correct, we may not always say what people want to hear, but it's not that we're supposed to say what people want to hear but what they need to hear. However, the radicals, the non-Christians, the Christian pretend to bee’s, the ones the Bible speaks of who take advantage of weak women, the ones who steal from the Church, the ones who con people out of their money so they can live extravagant lifestyles, all of these pretend Christians and the media's propaganda against us will eventually lead to many people despising us. Who comes to your mind in verse two above that says "the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God"? It's possible that he was speaking of the early Catholic Church was murdered many for what they called heresy, but it could also include any modern day religion that promotes violence and dislikes Christians, Jews, and/or our support of Israel.

Is there any Christian that doesn't believe Adolf Hitler was an early version of the Anti-Christ? He tried to "number" the Jews. Yes, they were assigned a tattoo of identification. Hitler even used technology to try and exterminate the Jews. Ironically, IBM technology was used in this process. Take a look at the following wikipedia.com summary of a book written recently:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

Another thing Hitler did was use movies, posters and other forms of media propaganda to encourage people to blame the Jews for Germany's economic crisis. This laid the groundwork for genocide.  Is it possible in today's political climate that Hollywood and the media could create a climate of hate against a particular race?  Is it possible that Hollywood and the media could create a climate of hate against a particular religion?  Is it possible for Hollywood and the media to create a climate of hate against a particular political party?  These two questions are very possible with today's political climate.

Is it no wonder that in Revelation we see that the anti-Christ would have us all wear "the mark of the beast" on our arms or foreheads? Doesn't his remind us of how Hitler "tatood and numbered" Jews in the concentration camps. He used IBM which was the best technology had to offer in his day to determine the ancestry of the Jews and today we have computers much more sophisticated. Matter of fact, there has never been a time in history where an "Anti-Christ" could effectively "number" every single person with the "mark of the beast" in which Revelation discusses we will have to have in order to purchase or sell. The technology was just not there when Hitler was in power, but it is in existence today.

Take a look at this "mark" on this Jews arm:

                                              

As the old saying goes "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". If you haven't heard of Facebook’s "face recognition software" which is being used by governments worldwide to help locate people or the strength  and power of Google, then you might consider that the term "knowledge is power" will take an entirely more sophisticated meaning during the "times of trouble".

So, I end with this. The closer to the end times and especially after the rapture, there will be a great rise of cults and false teachers, there will be a great falling away. The more false prophets that do bad things, the more some people will attribute that to Christianity and the more people will hate Christians. By association, we will be portrayed as agreeing with the loud mouths, the radical pro-life people who bomb abortion clinics, the protestors who disturb military funerals with vulgar signs, the conservatives who represent "corporate greed", the pedophile religious leaders who abuse children and all of those other things that will make people hate us. The bible states the end times will be rough and the economy will be even rougher, that there will be all sorts of fighting, lack of trust, earthquakes in diverse places, "tracking", bickering, partying etc. Some will tell you that there has always been those things, but I tell you that there has never been a time in history where the technology existed for all of us to have a number assigned to us in order for us to buy and sell, and there has never been a time in history where we were so completely dependent on the grocery store for food.

We shall see. For now, I'd suggest you read the parable of the ten virgins which is spoken of right after Matthew 24 (the time of troubles) and seek to prepare your lamps, because whether the end times are very close or not, our death could occur in the next few years or even the next few days so we never know "For Whom the Bell Tolls".

Matthew 25:1-13(NIV)

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

We do not know the "day or the hour", but we had better "keep watch".

Is God Lonely?

I've often pondered on the loneliness of God. It's a subject that's not specifically addressed in the Bible, but evidence of its existence does support it. One might ask, how could such a magnificent and intelligent Deity who lives forever be lonely, but I would strongly suggest that being in such a position of intelligence and living forever, could both isolate and intensify the loneliness unless there was a companion, and all of this certainly appears to be leading up to the desired companion - the Bride of Christ as stated repeatedly as being the Church and the New Jerusalem.

The first known written examples of God seeking dialog begin in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. If you remember, God created Adam and He said that Adam would need someone to keep him company because it wasn't good to be alone; therefore he created someone that Adam could communicate with on certain level that would satisfy Adam's loneliness. After all, why would God create such a perfect work to not complete Adam or understand him?  Adam came first and then God made woman out of a part of him and together they formed a team or unit that God could communicate with. Being that they were a part of each other originally, Adam and Eve would always be attracted back to each other and just like a couple of magnets certain men and women are drawn to each other, some more powerfully than others.

Is it too "human" to think that God could be lonely also; is it blasphemous to attempt and attribute human emotions and feelings to the Alpha and Omega? Do not forget that Genesis states that we (humans) were created from His image, therefore are we not emotional people and human to the degree that we sometimes are lonely? The concept of God having emotions is so deeply engraved into the Scriptures that there is no possible way to separate emotions from the Bible; however to say that God is lonely, we'd need to support that with evidence, but my thoughts are how many times throughout the Bible are we taught that God desires our prayers and our dialog, not just our obedience? God does most definitely desire to dialog with us on a daily basis and many of us desire something to fill that void we call loneliness. How can we ever be lonely if we had a good personal relationship with the King who created the universe? How could we ever be bored if we sought after His face through the creative and magnificent art He has created, the most powerful and magnificent of which being the heart? What human on this earth has ever created a painting as wonderfully complicated and colorful as the continually changing clouds and sunsets hovering in the western sky or a painting as welcoming as a beautiful sunrise after the darkest of nights? What artist on this planet could create such a beautiful star system or even come comparatively close to imagining such diversity in the animal and plant kingdom? I often feel sorry for those who think that all of this "just happened" in some sort of big bang, and almost as sorry for those who think that God couldn't create humans, animals and plants maneuvering in a world that continually adapts to ever changing environments.

The analogy of the Church and the New Jerusalem being the Bride of Christ is the example, as a marriage between a man and a woman (I'm trying my best to be politically correct here as you can tell) is the example of a great communion and lifelong partnership, yet the Church getting ready for the Bridegroom is the larger analogy of completion and a partnership for eternity.

Yes, God was communicating with Adam and Eve before they ate from the forbidden fruit, and afterward, and He has been trying to communicate and wishing for reciprocation ever since.

Is it possible to unwittingly pray for our own loneliness?  Solomon appears to do so when he prayed "Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?" (1 Kings) and God's answer to Solomon was "I now do according to your word.  Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you".  And God also made another promise, that He would lengthen Solomon's days if he was obedient.   But Solomon wasn't obedient, and with his great wisdom, he desired communication to fill the emptiness and he sought out diversity through dialog with not one, but "700 wives, princesses and 300 hundred concubines" of different cultures and it turned out to be his downfall.  Wisdom brought him much loneliness.   If God created Eve to be Adam's helper and complete him, then surely there would have been just the one woman to complete Solomon, but if so, Solomon didn't wait on her.  He traded 1 good woman, who would have been perfect for him, for 1000 women.

What diverse and intensely intricate lines of dialog must the God of the Universe require in order to be satisfied from His loneliness; I can't even begin to imagine to what depths such a dialog would penetrate nor could I imagine the great emptiness that would accompany God's heart without such a deep communion.  What voids must exist without that dialog, to not be understood, to not have a partner that sees you for who you are.  You can only give parts of yourself to them because the rest they would not understand, could not understand, especially if they didn't even love you enough to try.

Oh Lord, I desire your communion and more and more wisdom and clarity, that I can understand on a deeper level what it is You would like for me to do in this short temporary life. Please Lord show me, teach me, strengthen me, then lead me down the trails of righteousness, of wisdom, strength, forgiveness and mercy, all at the same time as walking down the Trail of your Word and your will, in Jesus Christ's name I pray. Amen.

Transfer Funds and Power Straight to China

The have nots are always so eager to take from the haves, at least many times this is the case.  People call it a "transfer of wealth".  It's only when we see this transfer of wealth and power happening between our country and another country that we recognize that "transfer of wealth" might not be all that highly rated.

How is it that China is growing stronger, more powerful, wealthier and more politically active in the world and the United States and Europe appears to be in decline?  Is it unpatriotic to say that.  No, it's unpatriotic to notice it and not try to stop it.

If you've ever put a dead battery into a flashlight with a new battery in the hopes that your flashlight will work as if two good batteries are inside, you will be quick to discover that the dead battery actually pulls the good battery down to it's level very quickly and then you you have is a dead battery.

So, what will it be like when things get tough within a nation (s) that is used to being spoiled, fast food eateries, plenty of gas money for sunday drives, vacations etc... ? Not a good picture.

A transfer of wealth, industry, money and political power is being transferred from us (the U.S.) to them (China) and that's not a good thing for us, and not good for democracy and freedom.  It's a very sad day when someone sells out to the enemy.  The trade agreements with China are just that.  The NAFTA with Mexico is different.  They won't get too much out of line if we get in a disagreement with them (Mexico), but China, human rights violations, communist government, state run media, arrest you on suspicion and lock you up without a trial China?

To think that a China man in a communist country that's dominated by highly scrutinized government ran media is going to buy an American made t-shirt when we are getting to the point that we can't even afford an American made t-shirt is beyond believable.  Why would he/she?  We don't even buy them.  Does Walmart even sell American made clothes anymore?  I haven't seen any in a while.

My argument is this?  If there is a $10 t-shirt that's made in China and a $15 dollar t-shirt on the rack at Walmart that's made in the U.S.A. what will the majority of people buy?  Ok, the $10 shirt.  So, let's think about this transfer of wealth theory of mine for a minute.  The factory in the U.S. that makes the $15 t-shirt has got to compete with the cheaper Chinese t-shirt so in order for that factory not to complete shut down (laying off every worker in the process) they must do one of two things: 1) hire cheaper workers or 2) buy a machine that makes the t-shirts instead of having so many employees.  What I am saying doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand, just some common sense.  China's workforce is poor but we've opened a huge market for them.  They have saturated our markets with their "cheaper" goods.  Now while this has allowed them to actually open up more factories, and even pay their people better wages, at the same time, just like the dead battery analogy I mentioned earlier, our wages on average, have to drop.

So, China is opening up factories as well as some of the other "poor" countries such as India and Mexico.  Our wages have to decrease for our factories to stay open and at the same time, their salaries increase.  Make sense?  The other thing that is screwed up about the trade agreements is that many businesses and factories are now "outsourcing" goods that they used to make "in-house" to other countries and having those goods imported in cheaper than they can make it here in the states.   Again, that equates to more people working in other countries and less in our own.  The debate they tell us to justify the world trade agreements is that the Chinese and the Mexicans will buy our goods therefore all of this will balance out.  Seriously, how brainwashed are we?  Propaganda, people still believe that everything you hear must be true as if it was written in stone, but it's not.  Do you really think a Mexican in Mexico is going to buy many of the things we make here?  Do you know how poor 95% of mexico is?  Does anyone really think that more than 1% of the Chinese are going to buy our products when we can't even sell them cheaper within our own borders, must less come anywhere close to competing with Chinese goods in China after shipping them there.

Are we so stupid?

I love to hear Bill Gates stand up with politicians and talk about giving up his wealth, and paying more taxes, not that I don't think that he doesn't pay more taxes, but the hypocracy of his statement just kills me.  Why?  Because if he cared so much about our country and was so willing to give up half of his income to pay taxes then why in the heck doesn't he at least hire Americans there at Microsoft.  Now I know he has some, but why is it that when you call MS tech support you can't even understand the person because you're speaking with someone from India or some other slave labor country because Corporate America Bill is trying to make a few extra billion while sacrificing American Jobs?

I am patriotic, very much so, and I am so tired of seeing our factories closing down and people being unemployed and on welfare when this whole fair trade thing could be balanced out better and we start opening back those American factories again and making them competitive without the average employee working for peanuts.

The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to straighten it out.  I am a contractor and I haven't seen a toilet made in America in  years.  All the toilet manufacturers are importing the toilets from Mexico.  Most textiles come from China and other slave labor countries.  The only clothing factory here in Selma is one that has a military contract.  Wouldn't it be nice if there wasn't such a big divide with China and we could open up a couple of large clothing factories here in Dallas County and put some people here to work so that they can start paying taxes too?

Oh, and speaking of another perk of the world trade agreements as they are?  They are the biggest contributors to world wide pollution and global warming (if there is such a thing) that exist.  Why?  Because the United States puts more control over their pollution and more agencies to monitor pollution than about any other country in the world, therefore if the world trade agreements are creating industries in China, Mexico, India and others who  have far less standards (if any) then the damage to the environment is increasing exponentially.

And lastly, we are so desperate for money and to strengthen our economy that we are selling out to the devil (China).  We say "I hope China invests here and gives us some money".  Let me tell you, I don't want to have to answer to China, and I don't want a communist government to hold my mortgage.  If you've ever seen the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" then you understand why George Wilson did not sell out to old man Potter.  If you remember, if George had not have been there, old man Potter would have owned Bedford Falls and life there would have been drastically different (for the bad) under Potters "rule".  Potter was definitely the evil character in the movie and China buying our debt and while we give them the money (through the World Trade Agreements), they buy more of our debt and grow stronger in power, monetarily, militarily and politically.  Don't forget that it was China, followed by Russia that wanted the world to "drop" the U.S. Dollar as the worlds staple currency back at the end of 2008, a move that would have crippled us politically world wide.  This was very obvious a move to throw us under the bus and I am very surprised that the media didn't harp on it more, even now.  I suppose it's a matter of national security and the government doesn't want us to panic?  What ever the case, I was taught to stay away from tigers, especially if they try to eat you, but miss.  They will come back later when the time is right.

There's so much more I'd love to say, but I'll leave it at that for now...

Delete Taxes - Thinking Outside of the Box

The title says it all. Actually it doesn't so let's go on. Why do we have taxes any way? The dollar has not been connected to either gold or silver for many years.

This concept may be considered a bit extreme to some, but let's just think outside of the box for a minute. People, just like animals, are creatures of habit and many times we just go with the flow and walk down the same path that our ancestors have walked down previous to us. The majority of people, after all, are followers, and with such a complicated issue such as taxes (getting even more complicated every year) then surely generations of politicians prior to our "information age" existence must be right, right?

Why?

Let's explore that question; the question why? There may be a slight transition to deleting all taxes completely, but why wouldn't it be possible? It's not like it's attached to gold any more, or jewels or pewter or the things of the past that men and women considered gems, diamonds etc.Listen, when taxes were created, there was no paper money, it was all silver or gold, period. In France, Great Britain, Rome, in all of these countries tax collectors went around collecting silver and gold from the people, and sometimes food as well, you know, tangible things they could put in the kings coffers and build up wealth.

When countries went to war with other countries, they pillaged the villages for what? Not paper money, but gold, silver, jewels and food. They didn't rebuild those cities they pillaged. They kept the wealth for themselves and for their country. Selfish right?

Now that gold, silver, jewels and food are no longer collected as taxes (get where I am going?) to fill up the kings coffers as was done in thousands of years past, why are they still collecting taxes when it is only paper, and many times just an electronic transfer of, you guessed it, nothing. I say nothing because the government prints money on a regular basis anyway, and I'm sure there is some accountability there, although I've often read that the Federal Reserve has never been audited before (whether this is true, I have no clue). So what's the point anyway?

Why can't the government audit every city, state and county as to what their revenue intake has been traditionally and connect that to their infrastructure and population in a fair and reasonable fashion, then print up a year's worth of money and just transfer it into their bank accounts on a monthly basis so that they can meet their obligations, payroll and day to day expenses. If some cities are out of proportion with other cities for how much money is collected per each individual, just find some way to average it out over a period of say ten years. The government "must" allow for this information to be public so as to earn the trust of the people and other city and state governments. This could be accomplished by listing every city, county and state that receives money from the federal government showing exactly how much money they were given compared to their number of employees and their census population. Every year if special needs come up from some of the cities needing additional revenue, then have them write a grant to the federal government.

Everyone will have more money in their pockets and this should stimulate the economy right? Some might argue that this artificial surplus would create inflation, but all of the artificial printing hasn't seemed to do it yet has it? This transition could be accomplished over the course of several years so we could do as the Federal Reserve calls it, a "quantitative easing".

Again, let me repeat that taxes throughout history were gold and silver that actually went into the governments vaults and that they spoils of war were actually spoils of war that went in the conquering government's vaults and since none of this is any longer the case, it could be said that taxes are really just an outdated method of collecting nothing, and therefore does not serve its original purpose anymore.

Deleting them entirely could raise people's spirits, even out the playing field, uncomplicate people's lives and make it easier for all businesses to streamline their production and focus on their products instead of so much red tape. The IRS could probably be downsized considerably, transitioning them into new jobs in the private sector. Accountants currently in existence can help moderate the transition by auditing the IRS and making sure that all cities received proportional amounts of money and to insure that corruption did not take over the system by allowing "certain" cities to receive extra payouts. All figures allotted each city, county and state government monetary figures should be published for the public’s consumption with a easily understood summary of why some cities receive slightly more funds than others as well as how much money in grants they received and for what. 

Roads and streets could still at least "partially" be funded by fuel taxes, although the fuel taxes could be lowered and eventually deleted over the course of several years as the system "evens" out.

I am just thinking outside of the box. I just think this idea could be explored. It is a concept that would be hard for most people to wrap their minds around because there have always been taxes, but life is complicated enough and the tax codes are just so complicated. Doing this could allow us to spread our wings and focus on the more important things of life. I realize that one of the complications may be how this would affect the world markets, and to be honest, I do not know what percentage of taxes other countries pay out, but the concept could be a global concept as long as the entire world is not connected to precious metals with their currency any longer.

Success - You have to Fail to Reach it.

Many would argue with the title of this article, but it's true nonetheless. We often talk about "change" and how we want it, yet how many times do we fall into the same old "rut" and "routine"? I remember a debate 20ish or so years ago with some of the older youth in my church. The question was "If your goal is to fail and you succeed, did you still fail?". My answer was "If it was your goal was to fail and you met your goal, then you did succeed in your own eyes, because everyone else’s definition of success should not reflect your own." To be honest, I have seen some kids that were so afraid of failure; they were perfectly content to never leave the couch and they continued to live with their parents well into adulthood.

I ran across the following piece written by Portia Nelson called "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters" and found it worthwhile to post, so here it is. May we all reflect, understand and seek the "better street" and become all that we can be by overcoming any adversity or "holes" that we fall into. Here's a toast to all the holes we've fallen into and the new streets we've found because we at least had the fortitude to get off the couch and walk down those streets to begin with. May we stop falling into the same old holes, but find new holes on different streets to fall into and get out of.  May we become better people because of it all.

Chapter 1:
I walk down the street.
There is a hole.
I don't see it.
I fall in.
It isn't my fault.
It takes a very long time to get out.

Chapter 2:
I walk down the same street.
There is still a deep hole.
I pretend not to see it.
I fall in.
I pretend it's still not my fault.
It takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3:
I walk down the same street.
There is still the same deep hole.
I see it.
I fall in anyway.
It's a habit.
I get out quicker this time.

Chapter 4:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole.
I see it.
I walk around it.
I don't fall in.

Chapter 5:
I walk down a different street!!!

Cult Council - Ward 3 - Absolutely Not!!

July 5th, 2011 - Judgment Day. The day that every voter (that's everyone that actually votes) judges (votes) for one candidate and at the same time, judges against the other candidate. In a day and age when the wolves in sheep’s clothing (the cult) complain and whine about "haters" and "non-religious tolerance" they themselves have been the biggest hypocrites of the very things they preach and whine about.

First and foremost, let me assure you that I do not hate the Freedom Foundation or any of their other associated cult organizations or programs which are all weaved together like a spider's web ready to catch any unsuspecting and naive soul. I have decided that there is no hate in my heart for them, at least not at this point.  What I do have is a great love for Selma, therefore to understand this love, you have to understand that seeing Selma suffer from this cult and seeing the potential future devastation to Selma from the growth of this oppressive organism has me a bit perturbed.

If you do your research, you will see that the Freedom Foundation, the House of God, the Selma Community Church, Random Acts of Theater are all connected together and to one man; Mark Duke. They are a cancer in our community and if this cancer ever metastasizes, then the death of Selma economically will not be far behind.

Motives and heart. How many times have I said it? Leadership is all about intelligence, inspiration, diplomacy and so many other things, but the smartest, most inspiring and diplomatic person on the planet would not get my vote if their heart and motives were “bad” and depending on that "bad" person's aspirations and potential is what determines how much I would campaign against them and for someone else.

Winston Churchill was not an Adolf Hitler fan, but Hitler was a "very" charismatic and popular leader. He was smart, witty and a strong leader who knew how people worked. Hitler used all sorts of media and propaganda to basically brainwash the public. Now, don't misquote me. I am not saying that the Freedom Foundation is going to commit genocide against the Jews or the citizens of Selma, but what I am saying is that even with all the right traits, wisdom and personable leadership qualities someone might have, it certainly doesn't make them worth following if the motives and heart are corrupt. Motives and heart are what determine a good leader and sometimes you have to really do your research. Not everyone has discernment. It's a gift that was not equally distributed out. There are very intelligent people out there who do not have discernment just like there are very discerning people out there who do not have very much intelligence. What I am saying is that just because a candidate has a nice "radio voice" and sounds sweet doesn't mean she is. There are basically a few types of followers. Those who "know" better, those who "don't know" better and those who just “don't care”.

Winston Churchill most definitely had discernment. He's been quoted as saying, "If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons."

Winston also said “Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.”

I don't think anyone here reading this doesn't know where I stand on Gwen Brown, Mark Duke, Shawn Samuelson and Ronald Smith, however many of you probably don't understand why I am so adamant about exposing them for the destructive group that they are, so I want to clarify some things.

I don't hate them, I just love Selma much more. It's important that you understand this.

I strongly feel that the cult will be the demise of Selma if given enough momentum.

I don't trust them and for good reason. They are a pack of notorious and destructive liars and there's lots of proof.

I dislike bullies very much. The only physical fights I’ve ever been in were protecting the weak from bullies. The cult is a bully. Lot's of proof there also.

They are creating racism in itself by creating negative drama. Make no mistakes, this group is the opposite of what Selma needs.

They are leading youth down a very bad path.

They have no respect for authority at all. They only do the bidding of their cult leaders.

They will eventually help run businesses and business people out of Selma.

They speak of those who speak out of the both sides of their mouths, yet that phrase was invented because of people just like them.

They speak of unity, yet use diverse divide and conquer tactics on the citizens of selma.

They do a few things and highly market those things they do in direct contradiction to the biblical term.

They help those who can help them recruit more members or who have talents or money that will directly support their cause and again recruit more people.

They speak of racism, yet cults are the true slave masters of the mind, the true oppressors of the weak.

Their only cause is their own glory, power and control and not that of the Father.

Their only justice is their cause which is control and power.

They are partison politics at it's worst.

They speak of democracy yet they are dictators.

Does Gwen have a job? Her job is to get control over the people of Selma according to her leader Mark Duke.

Why run businesses out of town? Leadership. Is this really the leader you want? They speak of unity yet they are the opposite of unity.  They are "anti-unity".

Perkin's is openly supporting the cult. Without a doubt, I am ashamed of this politician. Why? Because there has been so many examples of cults and with media, news, books etc there is absolutely NO reason for an educated person to be supporting this cult and especially publically supporting them. Is he that desperate for a few votes? The cult is going to ruin his future career and his reputation; however the cult is only supporting him because HE GIVES THEM CREDIBILITY. Perkins is being played. He has so much to lose and the cult has so much to gain. Perkins - You need to cut them off ASAP. If you read this, I am still waiting on that lunch meeting and I will be glad to elaborate. Don't make a fool of yourself any more, you're embarrassing all of us, and I am not speaking this white/black race gibberish, I am speaking the entire human race.

Next, without a doubt specialists have labeled this group as a destructive cult. Obviously they are blasting Allan McConnell. That's all they can do. What would you do? Unfortunately there is not a cult specialist that resides in Selma, so Ms. Coles, I suppose that your comment about him being an outside agitator might be correct. Take an antacid for your heart burn because he is a cult specialist no matter how much the cult and some of their bed buddies try and discredit him.

Listen, several years ago I called some people associated with the archives of the whole Jim Jones, People's Temple cult and described what was going on. I was asked "WHO WAS MONITORING THE SITUATION" and I said "A man by the name of Allan McConnell with Watchman Fellowship" and the reply I got back was "Ya'll are in good hands because Watchman Fellowship is one of the largest and most respected cult monitoring specialists in the country". That's all that I needed to believe. What will it take for some of you? There's a WeTV show called "Women in Cults" that is out and mentioned the Selma cult by name. There have been several other cult monitoring experts nationwide that has labeled this group a cult. The Alabama Baptist did a four page spread on the Selma Cult. What is it going to take for all of this to sink in? I have asked myself this question and the only thing I can think of is that there are so many "questionable charactors" that talk on the radio daily here in Selma Alabama, that no-one trusts anyone any more. I pray that you start trusting and listening to Allan McConnell before it's too late because he's the real deal people. No, he isn't perfect and seems a little harsh sometimes, but if you really listen, he's only telling the truth, and to the cult and the cult's supporters, the truth hurts their agenda. I'll say again that I don't hate the Freedom Foundation, but I love Selma more, and I believe that Allan doesn't hate them either, but loves all of the spiritually abused people have been and are being lied to and manipulated by this group much more.

Although I strongly predict a loss for Gwen Brown and a win for Greg Bjelke, I must admit that if something doesn't happen, there will be continued growth by this group and eventual council seats for them down the road. Folks, this can't happen. They will rip Selma to shreds. You think there aren't enough jobs here now? Seriously? Do you think businessmen actually like a lot of drama in the city they reside? Do you think the youth start minding their parents more when they see the Cult directly disobeying those leaders in charge? Do you think they will create "real jobs" for Selma?

Let me tell you a secret that obviously the airwaves of Selma have never understood. Drama runs off industry and jobs. Leaders who create division and drama run off industry and jobs.  What I am saying is that if you support the cult, you are supporting less jobs for you and your family.

Want proof? How many people move out of Selma during Perkins term in office? Drama and he created lots of it.  How many people pulled their kids out of the public school system and even moved out of the city in the early '90s? Again, drama and safety issues.

Tone it down. Give Selma a positive image and try to help the city, not hurt it. Also, do not put leaders in office that polarize the city as this is a very negative thing and causes us all to lose. I am not saying be complacent, true leaders are never complacent. If your house was full of snakes, you would not sit down on the couch, no you would not.

Vote for a local businessman that has invested his life in Selma and has actually created jobs here. As Daddy White said "Vote Bjelke, Vote Bjelke, Vote Bjelke" put the RIGHT man in.

Every vote against the cult is a vote for Selma.

The Selma Cult Takeover Stragegy - Our Youth

Normally I wouldn't share strategies that would benefit the Selma Cult, but since they are very aware of this paticular strategy already, i am not sharing any secret or giving them any ideas by sharing this to everyone else:

Many of the "honest" adults have been on to them for a while, but their strategy is to bring in the youth and it is an effective "cult" strategy to do this. Get them as they are young, control them, and then you have their vote and since they all will think they "owe their lives" to the cult for keeping them out of jail (as one of their black boys said, "if it weren't for the ff saving me, statistics show I'd be in jail, so it must be true" - effectively what he was really saying is that he owes his life to this organization because they have him believing whole heartedly if it weren't for the Freedom Foundation, he would be in jail.  This is what they want because now that boy will give up his life to the "cause" and the cult), keeping them off drugs, off alcohol, marrying a homosexual off in an arranged wedding setting so he can "control his homosexual lusts" etc. All of these things contribute to the control and manipulation of the cult.

One thing is for certain. A child that has been in a "cult family" environment knows no different and the cult leadership knows this. They will dedicate their lives to the "cause".

This is evil and sickening to a degree that is beyond anything I have seen in my entire life but it will be a very effective strategy for them and if something doesn't happen/turn this around in five years those "children" will be voting age and many people in this city not taking this seriously will come up with some other excuse as to why they didn't get involved or why it wasn't their fault etc and will just move away anyway leaving Selma in even sadder financial shape than ever before.

What we could be looking at down the road is the end of democracy in Selma as we know it and white flight will eventually turn into "more" industry and small business flight leaving Selma in a very precarious situation.

Fact is the SELMA CULT is horrendously horribly bad for the City of Selma and it's past time for more people to take notice and get active to inspire "positive growth" and not negative power trips.

Comparing Apples to Oranges

The "ex-mayor" of selma was defending the cult on the radio today and also defending their stance on "Jesus isn't God" in case any of you were wondering.

Religious tolerance he said...he mentioned the Muslim mosque in town and why wasn't anyone picking on them...

Well, in case you're wondering, why people are upset with the freedom foundation and not going after the muslims here in town, it's because:

The local muslims haven't been recorded stating they were raising an army - Mark Duke has

The local muslims haven't been recorded saying that they must get control and authority over the city and it's politics in order to gain eternal life - Mark Duke has

The local muslims haven't been recorded stating they would shed blood on the bridge - Mark Duke has

The local muslims haven't been recorded stating that it's members must now cut ties with former family and friends - MARK DUKE HAS

OH, and that's just the start...

Think about it... if Mark Duke had arab decent and dark hair with a middle eastern accent, homeland security would be all over his ass and also all over his followers...

Everyone... please wake up, get out of that group, expose that group for the dangerous cult that they are and do everything in your power to not support them or those who support them...(among other things).
 
Now on to the other point that James Perkins Jr was trying to make.  He quoted a scripture today (out of context of course) supporting the case that the cult was doing good works EVEN THOUGH THEY MIGHT BELIEVE JESUS ISN'T GOD.  He basically said they were doing the same as all the churches even though they didn't believe that Jesus was God like the traditional Christian church, and that basically we were ALL working towards the same end.  Here's the verses he used to back up his case:
 
Mark 9:38-42
New International Version (NIV)

38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.

HOWEVER, he failed to follow up with verse 42:

42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.

The point is that they are not preaching the real Jesus and that it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and thrown into the sea.  Not saying literally because what that is saying is that eternally they need to stop this nonsense NOW before they cause ANY MORE TO STUMBLE.

James, there are probably a hundred verses about the demise of false prophets and those who use the Lord's name in vain (for profit, control, money etc).

You might want to dig a little deeper into your Bible and quit using the Lord's name in vain and supporting false profits.  If you REALLY know your scripture, then you are very aware of what the scripture says about false profits.  You need to wake up just as much as the cult members need to.  That is, if you even really believe in the scripture at all.  That is a heart and soul issue that only you and God can relate to.
New International Version (NIV)

16 This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds,
not from the mouth of the LORD.

Hosea 11:6
New International Version (NIV)

6 A sword will flash in their cities;
it will devour their false prophets
and put an end to their plans.

1 John 4
New International Version (NIV)

On Denying the Incarnation

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

There are SO MANY verses about false prophets and how they lead people astray.  "Wolves in sheeps clothings" the scripture says.

I am NOT going to apologize for this.  I CAN'T BELIEVE that ANY former mayor of Selma would align themselves and openly support this cult.

My Dad

I have always admired my dad and with Father's Day coming up I thought it a good idea to reflect on not only the genetic connection with my father, but also his admirable traits I've witnessed over the years.

My father has always been a strong man. This year he will hit his 50th wedding anniversary and will turn 83 years old. He loves my mother. My father has been a rock for his entire family without a shadow of a doubt and has always been there for me and mom as well.

My father has always been tough as nails. Up until a couple of months ago I would have told you he has gotten a little frail in the last two years or so but after I witnessed him bruised and skinned up from head to toe a couple of months back and he told me the story of how he fell down the steps and hit face first on a brick sidewalk a week earlier and didn't even go to the doctor for a check-up, I had to rethink my thoughts about all that especially since what I saw should have broken quite a few bones at his age, yet only skinned him up and bruised his ego a little. I tried not to show my emotions and anger as to why he didn't tell me or why he didn't even go to the doctor, but it sure was hard.

My father went to work at an early age after the tragic death of my grandfather. He was sixteen years old. He sent money to my grandmother on a regular basis and went into the military. When he found out his youngest brother had dropped out of school, he came home from overseas and forced him to finish, buying his books in the process. My grandmother remarried to a man who was an alcoholic and who physically abused her, and after one episode of abuse, my father came home to show his step father just what it felt like to be physically abused. He got my grandmother out of that situation encouraged her to stay with my aunt, which she did. That wasn't the first fight my dad had been in, being raised up in rural Choctaw County where fighting was the norm and meanness was abound. Despite the occasional fight though, my father grew up doing well for himself and after he got out of the military he took a job with the highway department.

Mom and dad tried to have kids and weren't successful for years so they adopted and three years later at the age of 43, I was born. When I was eight years old my parents both decided that I was a handful and that they didn't want to raise me in and around the city of Mobile, so they both retired young and built a house in the country. I just didn't realize how different I had it from most children my age who had parents that worked. My father had a garden and did little side jobs from time to time. He introduced me to some good work ethics and hooked me up with local people to cut their grass and do other projects around the age of 11. At the age of twelve, I was searching classifieds and ran across an ad to sell Grit Papers, profiting 25 cents per paper sold. Dad would drop me off at the local store in the morning and I would ride my bike all over selling papers. He took a lot of time with me. I took carpentry a couple of years in high school and he eventually connected me to a couple who put my skills to the test at the age of 16. At the age of 17, I wanted to build a two story playhouse and garage for my niece and dad, he supplied me with the materials, the tools and gave me free reign to build it by myself, the best way to learn.

About a year prior to getting my drivers permit, I noticed my dad began to slow his driving down 5 miles under the speed limit, often telling me "Son, just because the speed limit is 55 mph, doesn't mean you have to drive that fast." He talked to me about alchohol and drugs and even a very short talk about sex and although my dad always kept a firm grip on my whereabouts, and also his belt when he disciplined me, he never used any kind of mental type abuse or punishment when he punished me. Matter of fact, he never once called me a name or tried to put me down in any way, but he did believe in that belt, and always wanted me to understand why I was getting whipped. He made sure I respected my mother as well. All this was for my benefit.

My father always was the brother and son who took care of business in the family. When my Uncle Otis was severely hurt in Okinawah around the time I was born, it was my dad who picked up one of the other brothers and went to New York to look after his affairs. He had extensive brain damage and paralysis, the mind of a one year old and he could not even feed himself, needing care around the clock. Once a month we would drive three hours to visit my uncle in the nursing home and it was my dad who always spoke with the doctors and nurses to keep things straight. Dad took care of all the paperwork (along with my mom). I can still remember the phone going off in the middle of the night and it being a doctor wanting to talk with my dad about Otis or to get permission for some proceedure.  My dad looked after my Uncle Otis for over 30 years.  Anytime anyone in the family was in some sort of trouble or needed something, my dad was right in the middle of it taking care of business. When my uncle Condie got colon cancer, it was my dad that brought him to our place and took him to chemo. When Uncle Condie got cancer a second time, it was my dad taking care of business once again. When people needed something worked on, my dad was there.

My dad is always there and has always been there for so many people. He's always said what's on his mind and some people might consider that insensitive, but you always knew exactly where he stood on any issue that would come up and you also knew how you stood with him. I've acquired a great sense of respect and admiration for that part of his personality.

There is a great deal of age difference between my parents and myself, but without a doubt, I want to take after the example of my father and be the strong one in the family just like he always was and be there for him and my mother in their old age. After all, I wouldn't be near the man I am today without my father (or my sweet mother). I love him now, and always will.

Tuscaloosa Tornado

Today was my fourth time visiting Tuscaloosa after the deadly tornado hit.  House after house destroyed and cars thrown around like toy hot-wheels cars.  There's not a lot I can do except cut down trees that are dangerous to passers by, or will be dangerous as they rot and die.  The ones that are left have been stripped of the majority of their limbs and leaves.  There is debris that needs to be moved next to the road so that crews can pick it up however so just in case you don't have a chainsaw there is plenty to do in that department.  Bring gloves and plenty of water if that's what you'd like to do.  Be sure to check in at the McAbee Center so that the city of Tuscaloosa can get credit and reimbursed for all of your volunteer hours.  I can assure you, they need all the help and reimbursements they can get as the infrastructure in the hit areas has a lot to be desired.

Some of the volunteers today ran across a bible that had obviously been tossed in the wind like so many things during the storm.  It was tattered and torn.  It was open to the book of Judges.  To some this would be a coincidence and to others a sign, but either way, I'd never seen a bible that had weathered the storm like this one.  It could still be used unlike most of the houses in the area and it's words were alive unlike the hundreds of people who passed away in the storm.  In the summer heat you could smell the rottening decay of animals and spoiled food from freezers that no longer were located where they originally were sitting, and then there was that Bible; every page could be read.  Even though it was tatered and torn, none of the pages were stuck together and none of the ink was smeared from the wetness of the storm.  There it sat open to the book of judges.

I spoke with quite a few people and heard some stories, some stimulating and some saddening like the old lady who was hiding in her tub for dear life when the roof disappeared and the toilet water started funelling up to the sky right before she went for a ride for a hundred yards, still in the tub until she and the tub landed safely on the ground with only a few bruises.  One saddening story was the lady that walked in front of one of the lots I was working on a few weeks back who held her dead baby in her arms while she cried.  The baby that was in the tree that came from a different county was yet another sad story.

One gentleman I spoke with lost everything including his work uniforms.  He had been living in that house since he was a baby and forty years later lost everything except the clothes on his back.  He brought up his insurance and said "by the way, you'd better make sure you have the names, models and serial numbers off of every thing of value inside your house if you expect the insurance companies to do much for you.

This was all a wide awakening event for me, but it makes me realise that we are here for only short while and the bible teaches not to put much stock in worldly possessions, but at the same time to not worry because God will take care of us.

Matthew 6- ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Seeing the destruction in Tuscaloosa reminds me that everything could be gone in a second. It brings life into perspective.  What are we taking with us?  What are we accomplishing with our hands?  What are we accomplishing with our mouths?  What are we accomplishing with our bodies?  What are we accomplishing in our souls?  What are we accomplishing outside of our bodies and souls?

Matthew 6:21 (New International Version)
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Wow.  What a deep verse and so true.  For a believer, one treasure is so empty and one is so full of life.

In Tuscaloosa there are many houses that were made of wood and brick that are gone completely now.  The people that were inside were either injured or dead.  They thought they were safe and many were not.

Sometimes we try to stay "safe" and not do what we know is right, not say what we know is right, not teach what we know is right, not fight for what we know is right but in the end can we truthfully say that we truly lived or will we say that we led the sheltered life? If there's a chance that you're going to be sucked up into a storm one day regardless, wouldn't it be nice to just "live" in the mean time?

There are many who live in a sturdy and secure home, but the storm killed them years ago.  Don't let that be you.  Sometimes you just have to step out on a limb, because if you don't, you just ain't living.  There may be risk, but some of the greatest things in life require risk.  Without a doubt, risk combined with faith is a powerful combination.