Friday, August 29, 2008

Chilling...

Sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to you. This topic is loaded and I've thought a great deal about it over the last couple of years. I won't overwhelm you with all the research that I've done but here in a nutshell is what I believe: (I hope that it is not too gloomy for you.)

1. The expansion of Islam is a problem for the whole world and in particular the US but I believe that that influence will be stifled by their militant methods. Any attempts to use violence to achieve their ends in the US which seems quite common are likely to be met with a huge backlash.

2. The above expansion of Islam will likely be further slowed by immigration from Mexico. Mexicans are staunchly Catholic even though many don't participate regularly in church activities. They are not easily influenced by Islam even in prison. Blacks are more easily influenced but, as with anglos, blacks are declining as a percentage of the population with the unchecked immigration from Mexico.

3. Lastly, and in my mind more devastating, I believe that the US is declining economically in the world which will eventually mean that we will lose our leadership in the world on many levels. This problem is not one that will come from a foreign enemy. It will come from within based on the compacency of the American people. Our government is printing money like crazy in an attempt to bail out investment companies, banks, home builders and buyers and continuing to fund the war. Privately, people are continuing to increase their personal debt with the use of credit cards. Their houses are losing value back to a few years ago. (Ours included). If Obama is elected he will take more money out of the economy for use by the government to create programs that are as poorly run as the post office and the TSA. Likewise if McCain is elected he will be hamstrung by the Democratic congress and President Bush's tax cuts will be allowed to expire in 2010. I saw an interview with demonstrators at the Dem convention. They were asked to identify an array of pics of political figures and none could identify Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, or Dick Cheney. Furthermore, many were asked to identify a specific legislation that Obama has sponsored that got them to believe in him. Not one could identify a single thing that Obama had ever done only what he says that he will do. This is a sad commentary on the state of the American people. They know more about the contestants on American Idol who have no impact on their lives than the men and women in politics who do. America will implode. Fully half of the American people are liberal and believe that it's the gov't's job to fix the problems of the country and the world. They are not just ignorant of the impact of an adjustable rate mortgage they are ignorant of the impact of the spending behavior of the gov't. Most people are not aware that 1/3 of the $3 trillion federal budget is interest on the money already borrowed by the gov't. The total federal budget is likely to grow exponentially as more boomers retire and SS is found to be bankrupt. There is no SS trust fund. ALL of the SS trust fund has been borrowed by the general budget. The budget surplus touted by the Clinton admin was a hoax. They simply borrowed from the SS trust fund and used accounting tricks to cover it up. How long until that 1/3 becomes 1/2 or 3/4 of the budget? Where is the money going to come from? Already, according to Forbes magazine wealthy people and not so wealthy are moving out of the country seeing this decline. If the more productive members of the society leave what does that leave? The burden on the remaining people will become even worse. If all of the countries around the world begin to believe that the US gov't is no longer a safe place for their money they will move it elsewhere and our dollar with free fall causing inflation like we have never experienced in our lifetimes.

4. Disasters: Americans are wimps and children and fools. Each time a disaster comes upon us, whether natural (Katrina) or man-made (9/11), Americans are willing to give up their freedom to the gov't so that they may feel safe or they are willing to let the gov't spend billions of dollars on foolish enterprises like rebuilding homes below sea level, and providing $2k debit cards and buying mobile homes that are never used. Each new disaster that occurs will further erode our freedom, both physical and economic.

5. The Bible has taught us that the end will not be pretty. Though many scholars have tried there is very little evidence of a country like the US having any great influence on the world stage when Armageddon comes. I believe that Israel will have to stand alone because we will have collapsed. We know that "a days wages for a loaf of bread", inflation will consume us. We also know that people will be "marrying, and giving in marriage" and going about their business as though nothing is wrong. We know that Jesus will return with a shout and the true end will come in judgement. But we will see terrible things before that. I believe that perhaps in my life time or in the life times of your grand kids that the world will see the Anti-christ and 1 world government.

6. I have become quite gloomy in the last year seeing the condition of our country and have even done research about living in places like Panama or Costa Rica. They will not be spared the judgement of the world but they will be late to that party as they are not a target of terrorists, they are not dependent on the American economy and their immigrants are the best and brightest from the US and around the world seeking to escape the tyranny and economic disasters that their homelands are becoming. God may have another plan for my life and I will do and go where He wants but if He allows a wise person will see the decline of our country and move on.

"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing." It is too late to protect our government. The liberals and humanists and God haters have taken control.

Note: I may be a gloomy gus or a Jeremiah, but if you agree with any of this tell everyone you can especially your kids and grand kids.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Use Your Power for Good Not for Evil


Have you made any bad choices in your life?


It’s hard to live too long without a rap sheet of choices that turn out in hindsight to be ill conceived.


Maybe it was a bad relationship.


Or bad judgment in your job.


Or a bad business deal


Or a bad grade in a class that you chose not to attend.



In answer to the question, “What is the greatest gift that God ever gave us?”, most people are likely to answer either “Life” or “Jesus”. Both of these are good answers but consider this,

Without choice neither of these matter.

Life without the ability and liberty to choose is not quality of life. It’s the life of a drone, a creature who only operates out of it’s programming. Without the ability and liberty to choose there is no reason to choose Christ for there would be no sin. Without the ability and liberty to choose there could be no love.

I have sometimes wondered why God put that tempting tree in the garden which has caused such great tragedy and pain and evil in the world. If He hadn’t done that then all would be well. But once again without that ability and liberty to choose we could not really know love and “God is love”.


Those of us who have chosen Jesus as our Lord have already changed the direction of our lives for eternity.


Those of us who have chosen to marry and bear children have changed our lives for the rest of our earthly lives.


Those of us who have chosen advanced education have changed our lives even further.

Those of us who have spoken into the lives of others to share God’s love for them have changed their lives forever.


There is incredible power in our choices. But as with all power and riches these can be squandered. How often have we heard stories of people who have won millions of dollars in the lottery and not too much later we hear that they have nothing left? We HAVE won the lottery. We have the ability and liberty to choose.


But what good would that be without great things to choose from? I can choose to rely on my own wits and wisdom and trial and error or We can choose God. I can tell you that I have tried my own way. Yeah I can get things and proven that I can lose things as well. But the real Holy Grail is to find happiness and peace. There is no lasting happiness or peace in things. In fact my pursuit of things leads to stress. I have to work more to pay for the things and pay the debts for things that I thought could make me happy.


But the greatest thing in life is that we can choose God. In God there is happiness and peace without regard to things. We are rich. Rich in happiness. Rich in peace. And Rich in Love.


Many things influence our choices


  1. Feelings
  2. Culture and family values
  3. Momentum
  4. Fear of consequences


Too often we abdicate the richness and power of our choices because we let these things make our choices for us. We can allow our feelings to prevent us from reaching out to people outside of our comfort zone. We can let our culture and family values prevent us from choosing to rise up out of a history of pain and even separation from God. We have friends in Spain that have been working diligently to bring the Gospel back to that country for years. However, individuals there who choose to follow Christ in a personal way are often disowned by their families because of the power of tradition and culture and family values.


We can let the momentum of life determine our choices in marriage, children, school, and work. How many people are working in a career that they fell into by association with people rather than viewing the universe of careers and picking one? How many people have married the one that was available at the right time rather than waiting for one that might be more suitable? How many people have had children at a time not of their choosing but now may have to drop out of school to care for them? We can miss out on the riches that God has for us because we are afraid to choose to step out in faith to share our faith or pray for someone or come to a growth group.


Many of us who have chosen to take Jesus as our Lord live as though that was the last choice we have to make. However, that may be far from the truth.


When Moses lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness God provided food daily . Each day the people had to go out to collect it. God could have allowed them to store up their food or even permanently relieve their hunger altogether. Instead each day they had to get up and choose to trust Him. Exodus


The Apostle, Paul, tells us that we must “walk by faith”. Each step in that walk is a choice. 2 Cor 5:7

He also suggests to us as he did to Timothy that we train ourselves in godliness like an athlete trains for an event. This involves choosing to “work out” and choosing to avoid negative activities such as some foods. 1 Tim 4:8;2 Tim 2:5;1 Cor 9:27

The choices that we have before us include these:

Will we make ourselves available to Him?


Will we trust Him to take care of our needs?


Will we trust Him to call us to do some risky things? I.e. Outreach, share our homes, share our faith, pray for healing for people in our workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods. Will we prioritize time with Him? Alone personal time, time in worship, time in fellowship with other believers.


Is today your day to choose?


Robert Frost, a great American poet wrote a famous poem that is often quoted on themes like this.

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.


If you have not chosen Jesus as your Lord is today your day? Have you found lasting happiness and joy in the things of your life? Or do you need more things to find that? God gave you the greatest gift in your life, the ability and liberty to choose. He already loves you. Will you receive the riches of His relationship with you?


If you have already chosen Christ as your Lord are you living in the light of His presence each day? Are you still living a life of frustration and stress because you don’t want to bother God with your stuff? Would you choose Him again today and every day? He loves you and wants to be more real to you. You were created for friendship with the Living God. The Ministry Team is here for you too. They will pray for you to help you get started again in that daily walk with Him…to experience again the great power and riches in choosing Him everyday.

One of the great heroes of the Bible put it this way.

Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. Josh 24:15

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Second-Hand Noise

Societies have come around to the impact that second-hand smoke has on non-smokers and many regulations have been passed to force smokers outside and further away from civilized areas. While there have been a few jurisdictions that have passed ordinances on night clubs whose sounds have escaped their premises, there has been little discussion of the impact of second-hand noise in other areas.

Wikipedia defines Noise pollution (or environmental noise) as displeasing human- or machine-created sound that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life.

Most of us have found the noise of jack hammers or small cars with ear splitting vibrations from enormous speakers in the rear highly distressing. However, did you know that prolonged exposure is actually harmful?

"Though it takes about 8 hours to harm your ears at 85 decibels, crank the tunes up to 110 decibels, and it only takes a minute and a half to endanger your hearing.
You might be surprised to know that normal speaking is around 60 decibels, a baby crying is about 110, and an airplane taking off is around 140." http://ask.yahoo.com/20040528.html

Of course jack hammers and loud cars can be avoided or departed from but it seems that too often screaming babies cannot. Families insist on bringing babies onto airplanes or to restaurants creating second-hand noise pollution that is at first distressing to the psyche but can also be harmful. Any criticism of these parents often results in harsh words from all and comments such as "What should we do? Stay home?" Answering that question in the affirmative often results in further altercations.

The solution here should be the same as with smoking. Designate areas in restaurants as children or not children. People without children seldom disrupt others around them. Bars might be the exception. However, it is inevitable that children accompanying their parents into public will disrupt others. Some commentators have already suggested that Adults only airline flights would be attractive to many and even warrant a higher ticket price. Jet Blue can already be designated the Disney or Chuck E Cheese airline sheerly for the number of children on board.

Any one person's lifestyle choices (having children is a lifestyle choice) should not interfere with the lifestyles of others.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Everyone lives by Faith

We hear alot about "faith-based organizations" and some say we should keep faith out of politics and public policy. But really, how do you do that. Everyone lives by faith. People who believe in God or a Supreme Being or reincarnation, etc. are said to have faith because they believe in something that cannot be proven or measured with current metrics. However, their faith is really rooted in the word of someone else, usually a book, a holy book in some cases. If anyone claims to have information from God then each person must decide for themselves if the person claiming this is credible and reliable. The same thing happens in a courtroom. A witness testifies to what they saw. A jury must decided if that witness is truthful and reliable and render a decision. That decision is based on faith. Faith=Belief. If you believe what someone said about events that you did not witness then you have faith in what they said. This is definitional and indisputable. All beliefs are by definition faith. Some beliefs have their basis in personal experience. I believe that at this moment I am typing this blog. You may or may not believe me later when I tell you that I did. If you believe me then you are taking my word "on faith".

An Atheist believes that they do not live by faith. However, it requires perfect, absolute and comprehensive knowledge of all existence to assert that there is no god and be certain to be correct. Such knowledge is beyond any human mind no matter how brilliant. Therefore, an atheist believes on faith that there is no god. An atheist may say that this is a different kind of faith. But in fact, it is not. Belief is faith is belief.

An individual may believe in global warming. However, unless a person has personally conducted the research and has access to all necessary measurements then they believe the word of someone else on faith. Even believing something on concensus, because it is popular to believe, does not make it fact. Believing second hand information is faith.

Everyone lives by faith.

Self-Esteem Generation

As a consultant I see the inside workings of many companies. Many of them are highly respected in the market place for a variety of reasons. Behind the scenes, though, it is surprising to find out how poorly managed many companies are due in part to the problems surrounding the youngest members of the organizations who received only positive, self affirming feedback. No teams ever really lost. Everyone received the awards because to do otherwise might negatively impact someone's self-esteem. No child is ever held back for poor performance but socially advanced in order that they are not psychologically damaged. Negative progress reports are transformed into extolling "other virtues". Of course once they reach the workforce they could find themselves blindsided by rigid requirements of showing up on time and delivering results and maybe receiving a poor performance review. Not finding this appealing they move on in search of their "passion" that will continue to reinforce their self-esteem without rigid requirements.

Finding a whole generation like this Human Resource departments are forming new guidelines for "associate" retention. Flexible schedules. Performance plans. Managers no longer have the freedom to give negative feedback or tell their "associates" that they are not meeting expectations without an HR representative present. This has translated into an epidemic of missing goals and deliverables. Deadline used to mean "drop dead date". "Not to go past this date." No such thing any longer.

Self-Esteem has trumped performance in the US. As this attitude grows the US will continue to lose jobs to other countries where performance still trumps self-esteem and comfort even if their wages are considerably lower.