Neither Option is Acceptable!

The following from The Patriot Post is interesting. As you read this, keep in mind that Trump is their candidate of choice.

 

At the Democrat Convention, Khizr Khan, the father of a soldier killed in Iraq, gave a speech in which he directed this to Donald Trump: "You have sacrificed nothing and no one." Khan also asserted that Trump wouldn't have even let his son into the country. Khan is a Muslim, and his wife stood behind him wearing a head covering. That's where Trump first focused his attention, responding, "He was very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say, she probably — maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say." Trump then launched into some talking points about terrorism. Challenged on the sacrifice question, Trump first asked, "Did Hillary's scriptwriters write it?" Then he pointed to the sacrifices he's made like ... creating jobs and working for a Vietnam memorial. Ok then. In another venue, Trump insisted that Khan had "no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution."

 

"Here's a handy rule of life," says Iraq veteran David French. "Always honor Gold Star families. Always." Indeed, if Trump wants to be the commander in chief, he's going to have to do better than attacking Gold Star families, policy disagreements notwithstanding. Given his history of declaring that the military will obey him even on illegal orders, he has a long way to go. But that's what you get from a man who speaks just about everything that pops into his head, with little or no filter.


 

Well, thank you very much David French! But your words are wasted on Trump! The guy can't control himself! He is totally reactionary and attacks his "enemies" whenever he even suspects that they might be challenging him. If you want evidence, just look at what he did to Cruz the day after winning the GOP nomination. Cruz congratulated him on winning the nomination. Cruz never said one bad thing about Trump in his speech at the RNC. His one heinous offence was to tell people to vote their conscience. Was Trump satisfied with winning the GOP nomination and moving on? Absolutely not, as long as his political enemy was still alive and breathing. The very next day Trump again brought up his libelous accusation that Cruz's father was somehow involved in the assassination of President Kennedy. That's how Trump treats political enemies. Any reasonable politician would have been satisfied with accomplishing the first milestone which was winning his party's nomination. Then he would set his sights on the next milestone which is to defeat the opposing party in the presidential race. The last thing any reasonable politician does is to look like a petty, mean-spirited buffoon whose only goal is to punish his enemy even though it might harm his chances to win the greater prize.

 

On the one hand we have Hillary who will be asleep at the wheel when that 3 a.m. call comes in. Her response is to cover her butt and leave our brave troops dangling in the wind. She proved that with Benghazi.

 

On the other hand we have the Donald whose first impulse is to shoot first and ask questions later. And God help anyone who even looks like they might be a challenge to his despotic authority.

 

We need to ask ourselves, "who would we rather have in charge of the nuclear button should that 3 a.m. call come in?"

 

In my opinion, neither option is acceptable!

 

The Political Junkie

If you support the man, then own the baggage!

Charlie Sykes makes a good point. If support the man, then they must own all the baggage that comes with him!

 

http://therightscoop.com/you-embrace-trump-you-embrace-it-all-every-slur-every-insult-every-outrage-charlie-sykes/

 

On another note, Huckabee advises:

 

 

My thoughts:

 

1.      Okay, I will!

2.      The Republican Party actually left me just like the Democratic Party left Ronald Reagan.

3.      Mr. Huckabee, if you CAN support Donald Trump then check your Christian values at the door when you vote for him.

4.      Mr. Huckabee, if you CAN support Donald Trump then PLEASE don’t tell anyone you are a Christian. Or will you say, “Let us do evil that good may come? (Rom. 3:8)”

 

This reminds me of a legend about Alexander the Great.

 

Legend has recorded a story about Alexander the Great, one of the greatest military generals who ever lived. One night during a campaign, he couldn’t sleep and left his tent to walk around the campgrounds.  As he was walking he came across a soldier asleep on guard duty – a serious offense. The penalty for falling asleep on guard duty was, in some cases, instant death; the commanding officer sometimes poured kerosene on the sleeping soldier and lit it.  The soldier began to wake up as Alexander the Great approached him.  Recognizing who was standing in front of him, the young man feared for his life. “Do you know what the penalty is for falling asleep on guard duty?”

Alexander the Great asked the soldier. “Yes, sir,” the soldier responded in a quivering voice. “Soldier, what’s your name?” demanded Alexander the Great. “Alexander, sir.”

Alexander the Great repeated the question: “What is your name?” “My name is Alexander, sir,” the soldier repeated.  A third time and more loudly Alexander the Great asked, “What is your name?”  A third time the soldier meekly said, “My name is Alexander, sir.” Alexander the Great then looked the young soldier straight in the eye. “Soldier,” he said with intensity, “either change your name or change your  conduct.”

 

My advice to Huckabee, Palin, etc.  is either change your name (Christian) or change your support for an immoral, racist, lying, misogynist con man who is categorically unqualified for the position of the highest office in the land.

 

What difference, at this point, does it make?

 

 

 

If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures. -Alexander Hamilton

 

 

 

 

 

The Dog Ate My Homework Saga Continues

The Dog Ate My Homework Saga Continues

 

Before we get to the latest twist in the IRS email scandal, let’s recap:

 

The IRS was accused of targeting tax-exempt organizations that had “Tea Party” or “Patriots” in their names during the 2012 election. When the investigation into this scandal began, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman denied the organization was targeting conservative groups. “There’s absolutely no targeting,” he said.

 

When it was revealed that the IRS was indeed targeting conservative groups, the IRS then blamed it on a few low level “rogue employees” in the Cincinnati office. When these “rogue employees” in Cincinnati realized that their bosses in Washington were throwing them under the bus, it was then revealed that the targeting of conservative groups actually came from much higher up and the finger of blame was pointed at Lois Lerner who was then the director of the Exempt Organizations Unit of the IRS.

 

The House Ways and Means Committee began an investigation of the IRS to see who was responsible for targeting conservative groups. During the House investigation, the IRS agreed to hand over all of Lois Lerner’s emails from 2009 to 2011 to the House Ways and Means Committee.

 

Several months later the IRS claimed that it could not produce Lois Lerner’s emails to and from the White House and other administration departments due to a supposed computer crash. So any emails between Lerner and the White House, Treasury, the Justice Department, the Federal Election Commission or Democratic offices on Capitol Hill ordering, seeking or directing the IRS to target conservative organizations apparently have disappeared into digital oblivion. The IRS claimed that Lerner’s hard drive had been damaged and then destroyed according to government protocol.

 

Later the IRS admitted that the hard drive was only “scratched,” not irreparably damaged, as Americans have been led to believe.

 

All this time the IRS claimed that Lerner’s emails had not been backed up on government servers therefore they were lost forever.

 

Fast forward to Friday August 22, 2014. Attorneys for the IRS now admit that Lerner’s emails had been backed up, but it would be too much work to restore those backed up emails.

 

Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit after the IRS refused to respond to four previous FOIA requests dating back to May 2013.

 

Judicial Watch’s president Tom Fitton told Fox News Channel’s Shannon Bream that a Justice Department attorney informed them the missing Lerner e-mails do exist.

 

Fitton said: “A Department of Justice attorney told a Judicial Watch attorney on Friday that it turns out the federal government backs up all computer records in case something terrible happens in Washington and there is a catastrophe....So everything we’ve been hearing about scratched hard drives, about missing e-mails of Lois Lerner, other IRS officials, other officials in the Obama administration, it’s all been a pack of malarkey.”

 

Fitton continued: “They could get these records but they don’t want to and they haven’t told anyone about it, frankly, until we were able to get it out of them on Friday. And there’s no such thing as Lois Lerner’s missing e-mails. It’s all been a big lie. They’ve been lying to the courts, to the American people and to congress.”

 

See:

 

·         http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2014/08/25/irs-scandal-bombshell-doj-attorney-admits-lois-lerner-emails-exist

·         http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/08/25/doj-attorneys-intimate-lost-lerner-emails-likely-exist-in-back-up-computers/

 

It seems to me that the IRS could learn a valuable lesson from Mark Twain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shutting Down the Ocean

Just when you thought the government shut down could not get any more bizarre, now the Obama administration is shutting down the ocean! You can't make this stuff up!!!

The Miami Herald reports:

Charter guides received a message from the National Park Service this week informing them that they are not permitted to take clients fishing in Florida Bay until the feds get back to work. That means that more than 1,100 square miles of prime fishing is off limits between the southern tip of the mainland to the Keys until further notice.

The closing affects not only fishing guides, but anyone with a license to conduct business in the park, including tour operators and paddling guides — anyone with a Commercial Use Authorization permit, said Dan Kimball, superintendent of Everglades and Dry Tortugas national parks.

Biscayne National Park is also off limits. Enforcement rangers will be on duty, Kimball said.

Capt. Mike Makowski, owner of Blackfoot Charters in Key Largo, estimates this eliminates 60 percent to 70 percent of his hunting grounds.

"This is going to put a lot of guys together in a small area close to the park," Makowski said. "It's going to be even worse on the weekend when we're going to have to compete with the recreational anglers."

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/03/3668028_p2/shutdown-day-3-food-distributor.html#storylink=cpy

Also see: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Government-Shutdown-Also-Shuts-Down-Florida-Keys-Waters-226585501.html

Mike Flynn writes:

Until government funding is restored, the fishing boats are prohibited from taking anglers into 1,100 square-miles of open ocean. Fishing is also prohibited at Biscayne National Park during the shutdown. The Park Service will also have rangers on duty to police the ban... of access to an ocean. The government will probably use more personnel and spend more resources to attempt to close the ocean, than it would in its normal course of business.

This is governing by temper-tantrum. It is on par with the government's ham-fisted attempts to close the DC WWII Memorial, an open-air public monument that is normally accessible 24 hours a day. By accessible I mean, you walk up to it. When you have finished reflecting, you then walk away from it.

At least that Memorial is an actual structure, with some kind of perimeter that can be fenced off. Florida Bay is the ocean. How, pray tell, do you "close" 1,100 square miles of ocean? Why would one even need to do so?

Source: http://nation.foxnews.com/2013/10/05/nps-rangers-patrol-newest-'government-shutdown'-closure-ocean

Earlier this week an anonymous Park Service ranger said, "We've been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It's disgusting."

The Obama administration is counting on the fact that low information voters will blame the GOP for the government shut down when in fact the blame actually lies at the feet of Harry Reid and the Dems.

Thomas Sowell nailed it in his article "Who Shut Down the Government?" He wrote:

Even when it comes to something as basic, and apparently as simple and straightforward, as the question of who shut down the federal government, there are diametrically opposite answers, depending on whether you talk to Democrats or to Republicans.

There is really nothing complicated about the facts. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted all the money required to keep all government activities going -- except for ObamaCare.

This is not a matter of opinion. You can check the Congressional Record.

As for the House of Representatives' right to grant or withhold money, that is not a matter of opinion either. You can check the Constitution of the United States. All spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives, which means that Congressmen there have a right to decide whether or not they want to spend money on a particular government activity.

Whether ObamaCare is good, bad or indifferent is a matter of opinion. But it is a matter of fact that members of the House of Representatives have a right to make spending decisions based on their opinion.

ObamaCare is indeed "the law of the land," as its supporters keep saying, and the Supreme Court has upheld its Constitutionality.

But the whole point of having a division of powers within the federal government is that each branch can decide independently what it wants to do or not do, regardless of what the other branches do, when exercising the powers specifically granted to that branch by the Constitution.

The hundreds of thousands of government workers who have been laid off are not idle because the House of Representatives did not vote enough money to pay their salaries or the other expenses of their agencies -- unless they are in an agency that would administer ObamaCare.

Since we cannot read minds, we cannot say who -- if anybody -- "wants to shut down the government." But we do know who had the option to keep the government running and chose not to. The money voted by the House of Representatives covered everything that the government does, except for ObamaCare.

The Senate chose not to vote to authorize that money to be spent, because it did not include money for ObamaCare. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says that he wants a "clean" bill from the House of Representatives, and some in the media keep repeating the word "clean" like a mantra. But what is unclean about not giving Harry Reid everything he wants?

If Senator Reid and President Obama refuse to accept the money required to run the government, because it leaves out the money they want to run ObamaCare, that is their right. But that is also their responsibility.

Source: http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2013/10/04/who-shut-down-the-government-n1716292

Centuries ago, King Canute commanded the ocean tide to stop. In doing so, he was actually demonstrating to his subjects the limits of royal power. In contrast, President Obama actually believes he has the power to control the oceans — or at least the power to control U.S. citizens' access to the oceans.

Enough is enough! 

The Founding Fathers Intent Regarding The Separation of Church and State

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion. 

Today we are told that this means “the separation of church and state” and therefore we can no longer read the Bible or pray in schools. 

Did our founding fathers really intend on limiting the expression of religion in government? 

On the day that the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, they underwent an immediate transformation. On the day before every one of them was a British citizen, living in a British colony with 13 crown appointed British state governments. However, when they signed that document, they lost all of their state documents. Consequently, they returned home to create new state constitutions. 

A look at some of the original state constitutions reveals the truth as to whether or not the founding fathers intended to keep religion out of government.  

Below are some clauses in a few state constitutions. 

Some Religious Clauses in State Constitutions

---

Delaware; Article 22 (1776) "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust...shall...also make and subscribe the following declaration, to whit:

'I,_____, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration'"

Georgia; Article VI (1777) "The representatives shall be chosen out of the residents in each county...and they shall be of the Protestant religion..."

Georgia; Article VI (1777) "The representatives shall be chosen out of the residents in each county,...and they shall be of the Protestant religion..."

Maryland; Article XXXV (1776) "That no other test or qualification ought to be required...than such oath of support and fidelity to this State...and a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion."

Massachusetts; First Part, Article II (1780) "It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe..."

Massachusetts; First Part, Article II (1780) "The governor shall be chosen annually; and no person shall be eligible to this office, unless...he shall declare himself to be of the Christian religion."

Massachusetts; Chapter VI, Article I (1780) "[All persons elected to State office or to the Legislature must] make and subscribe the following declaration, viz.

'I,_____, do declare, that I believe the Christian religion, and have firm persuasion of its truth...'" 

New Hampshire; Part 1, Article 1, Section 5 (1784) "...the legislature ...authorize ...the several towns ...to make adequate provision at their own expense, for the support and maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality..."

New Hampshire; Part 2, (1784) "[Provides that no person be elected governor, senator, representative or member of the Council] who is not of the protestant religion."

New Jersey; Article XIX (1776) "...no Protestant inhabitant of this Colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right...; all persons, professing a belief in the faith of any Protestant sect...shall be capable of being elected into any office of profit or trust, or being a member of either branch of the Legislature."

North Carolina; Article XXXII (1776) "That no person, who shall deny the being of God or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority either of the Old or New Testaments,...shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within this State.

Pennsylvania; Declaration of Rights II (1776) "...Nor can any man, who acknowledges the being of a God, be justly deprived or abridged to any civil right as a citizen, on account of his religious sentiments or peculiar mode of religious worship."

Pennsylvania; Frame of Government, Section 10 (1776) "And each member [of the legislature]...shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz.:

'I do believe in one God, the creator and governor of the universe, the rewarder to the good and the punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine inspiration.'" 

Pennsylvania; Article IX, Section 4 (1790) "that no person, who acknowledges the being of a God, and a future state of rewards and punishments, shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this commonwealth."

South Carolina; Article III (1778) "[State officers and privy council to be] all of the Protestant religion."

South Carolina; Article XII (1778) "...no person shall be eligible to a seat in the said senate unless he be of the Protestant religion."

South Carolina; Article XXXVIII (1778) "That all persons and religious societies who acknowledge that there is one God, and a future state of rewards and punishments, and that God is publicly to be worshipped, shall be freely tolerated. The Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed...to be the established religion of this State."

Tennessee; Article VIII, Section 2 (1796) "...no person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State."

Vermont; Frame of Government, Section 9 (1777) "And each member [of the legislature],...shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz.:

'I do believe in one god, the Creator and Governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the scriptures of the old and new testament to be given by divine inspiration, and own and profess the protestant religion.'"

 

Those who want to revise history have sold us a bill of goods!

THE BLESSED HOPE

Great article by Pastor Jerry:

THE BLESSED HOPE

1 Peter 1:13, “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Titus 2:13, “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”

I didn’t sleep well last night, my mind preoccupied with yesterday’s events.  On the way to church I forgot to eat my breakfast—for the very same reason.  I was troubled by some of the results of last night’s election.  Especially inasmuch as three states voted for gay marriage (passed in two states and pending in a third; this is the first time voters themselves have approved of gay marriage by initiative).  Two states voted to legalize marijuana.  Things are changing rapidly in our country.  This is not my Mom and Dad’s America.

As a Pastor I feel the need to address some of my concerns from a Biblical perspective.  I’m so glad this morning to hear from brothers and sisters in Christ who are working to respond to these matters in a Christ-honoring fashion.  That’s what I yearn to do also.  We spoke last Sunday of the dual citizenship we as believers in Christ enjoy.  We are privileged to be American citizens.  We also are citizens of a better country, a heavenly one (Cf. Hebrews 11:16; Philippians 3:20).  Our American citizenship is temporal, our heavenly citizenship is eternal.  It’s good to keep these things in perspective.  As citizens of heaven, indwelt by the Spirit of God, we can see things from a broader and Biblical perspective.  From a Biblical perspective we can find good reason for hope amidst our trials and troubles.  Someone wrote, “Don’t this election steal your song.”  That’s good counsel.

As an American citizen I’m troubled by the direction of our country.  It was noted last night by a commentator that many of the election results of last night could be traced back to an increased secularization of our society.  Surveys bear this out.  I doubt that America has ever been more “secular” in its perspective than it now is.  As a country we have faced huge challenges before—great wars and economic challenges.  But we overcame those challenges as people of faith in God (for the most part).  It’s not the same today.  Unfettered from a Biblical morality we are heading off in a bold, new direction—all by ourselves.  God is not invited or welcome on this journey.  What He says is irrelevant.  We are a prodigal country determined to recklessly spend the labors of the sacrifice of our forebears with no thought to what the future might bring.  The prodigal son spent it all and then the famine came.  A day of financial “famine” is coming (Cf. Larry Burkett’s ‘The Coming Economic Earthquake’ or Joel Rosenberg’s ‘Implosion.’)”  It will be a hard time indeed.  A people of faith survived the great depression.  What will be the case for those who have none?  The national debt is a national disgrace.  But it is foolhardy to believe that it is something that will be passed on to future generations.  The day of financial reckoning will come sooner than that (in my own opinion).

These things are all very predictable.  We won’t be the first country or last country to fail—if that indeed comes to pass.  Romans chapter one speaks to the law of spiritual gravity as it relates to the sinfulness of man.  It is the nature of man to sin.  The downward spiral of sin and lawlessness is unavoidable (apart from salvation in Christ).  Romans chapter one bears much relevance to these matters:

Romans 1:18-32, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,  because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.   For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.   Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.  Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.  For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.   For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,   slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;  and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

These things should not surprise us.  We were warned ahead of time of the difficult times that would come in the last days.  2 Timothy 3:2-5, “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.”  The fact that these attitudes and behaviors are increasingly prevalent gives evidence to the growing secularization of our society.

There’s not a lot of hope to be found in these passages.  They speak to spiritual realities of which we have no control.  We might hope that “the sun will come out tomorrow,” but the reality is that we have no control over such matters.  A better day for America is not guaranteed.  We might hope for such a day and work for such a day, but the God of the ages, who “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11) is in control.  “Though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.”  He has a plan for the ages that will come to pass.

God’s Word helps me to see things from a heavenly perspective, and that’s where I can find hope.  The Apostle Peter wrote in 1^st Peter to believers who were enduring much persecution.  As with many of our brothers and sisters in Christ in other parts of the world, these early church believers were suffering much for the cause of Christ.   Some lost their homes, some lost their jobs, and some even lost their lives.  They had little guarantees when it came to their earthly existence (as it is with persecuted believers around the world today).  They had no freedom to vote.  There was nobody to appeal to, save God, if they were treated unfairly. 

It was to those people to whom Peter wrote, “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).  The term “hope” in Scripture bears no thought of uncertainty.  We use the term in that way.  We might say “I hope it doesn’t rain today,” but we say that with a measure of uncertainty.  Many of the things that we hope for in this life are uncertain hopes.  They are hopes without guarantee.  We might hope for long life or good health or prosperity—but none of those things are guaranteed to us.  We may hope for our candidates or political measures to win on election day—but these things are not guaranteed to us.  We might hope for a strong and God-fearing American—but this is not guaranteed to us.  Most of the things that we enjoy and hope for in this life are in fact things that are uncertain.  And even the most certain of things—the strength and security of our country—are without guarantee.  But Biblical “hope” relates to something in the future that is certain.  It is the confident expectation of God’s provision of a thing.  And so it is in relationship to the coming of Christ—grace will be brought to us on that day, GUARANTEED!  We are reminded that His provision to us is grace, i.e. unmerited favor.  It is the same with every intervention by God on our behalf.  From beginning to end the salvation He works in us is by grace.  It will be so in His return.  It is good for us to submit our lesser hopes to the reality of this greater hope.  We want to be prepared for that day, and do all that we can to make sure others are also.  This hope is said to be “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).  It is a happy hope.  It ought to cheer our hearts.  Christ is coming again!  We will be caught up together with those who have previously departed to meet the Lord together in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).  The concluding admonition from this text is especially timely “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”  We are repeatedly exhorted to encourage one another in view of the confident expectation of Christ’s imminent return (Cf. Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.”).

As believers in Christ we are to be different.  We are to not set our minds on “earthly things” (Philippians 3:19).  We are not to preoccupy ourselves with the uncertain hopes that lost people are given to.  The hope that we have in Jesus is “steadfast and sure” and serves “as an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:17).  It is a hope that first worked to “deliver us out of this present evil age” (Galatians 1:4) and will ultimately work “to transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory” (Philippians 3:21).  God’s glorious work in our lives—this salvation to the uttermost—is a work that He will complete (Cf. Hebrews 7:25; Philippians 1:6)!  It is on this confident expectation that we are to completely fix our hope.

I was thinking this morning about the experience of Jeremiah the prophet.  He had repeatedly warned his people of God’s pending judgment.  Despite his warnings the people continued in idolatry and sin.  Then God sent the Babylonians.  They brought utter destruction to Jerusalem.  The burned the temple and the King’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem.  They broke down the city walls.  They raped, pillaged, and killed Jeremiah’s people.  Those not killed were taken off into captivity.  Jeremiah was a witness to those events.  He saw it all.  Women and children dead in the streets; the law, the temple, the priesthood—all torn away.  And he wept.  And he was discouraged.  He said, “My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the Lord…my soul…is bowed down within me” (Lamentations 3:18-20).  His circumstances were grievous beyond measure.  It’s hard to imagine how difficult that must have been!  But Jeremiah found reason to hope.  And the hope that he grabbed a hold of was no false hope.  It was a confident expectation bound up in God’s promises and founded on God’s very nature.  “This I recall to mind” he said, “therefore I have hope.  The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23). 

A faithful promise has been made to you, believer in Christ.  He is coming again!  Fix your hope completely on this hope and you will never be disappointed, because it is guaranteed by our faithful God.  Confident in His soon return (1 Peter 3:15) we are to devote ourselves to prayer (Cf. 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Colossians 2).  We are to pray for all men and for kings and those in authority.  God desires all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).  His glorious and powerful gospel is able to save (1 Timothy 1:11; Romans 1:16).  We have good news to declare and people to pray for.  The great Ship of Humanity is headed on a collision course with the immovable reality of God’s judgment.  We, God’s people, want to see lost people saved.  That’s the work God has for us until our hope is brought to reality in the glory of His presence.

Pastor Jerry

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

"Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
 Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Dangerous Absolutes by Craig L. Parshall

Although they knew God, they did not glorify [honor] Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools (Rom. 1:21-22).

Place: Aspen Institute conference, Colorado

Date: August 4, 2011

Former U.S. vice president and environmental-disaster activist, Al Gore, stepped onto the stage and began a veritable tirade against all who doubt what he sees as the absolute truth about global warming and the catastrophe he claims man-made carbon emissions are creating.

Gore’s “rant” (as it was described by the Los Angeles Times) was so filled with profanities that most newspapers couldn’t print extensive excerpts. He proclaimed that, because of global warming, “the very existence of our civilization is threatened.” His real complaint, though, seemed more fundamental: “There’s no longer a shared reality on an issue like climate.”

By “shared reality,” I take Mr. Gore to have meant that he is crestfallen over the American public’s refusal to close the debate on climate change. In other words, he vehemently believes his worldview on environmental issues should be the “shared reality” for everyone. And if you disagree, you are now a target of his four-letter epithets. A clearer picture of political correctness gone wild is harder to imagine.

The issue here is not the validity of the global-warming theory. It is the transformation of trendy ideas about “greenhouse gases” into a belief system that resembles a secular religion. Those who doubt are infidels.

Case in point: When Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry of Texas dared to question that man-made carbon emissions cause catastrophic global warming, he was skewered by the press. Columnist Scott Stroud of the San Antonio (TX) Express-News said Gov. Perry “breezily dismissed the science behind global warming,” something Stroud equated with opening a “can of crazy.”

This type of totalitarian approach makes politically incorrect dissent a crime against humanity. Even cultural heroes become enemies when they question the sacred cows. Before his death, Michael Crichton, a medical scientist and novelist who wrote blockbuster science-fiction novels like The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, had the courage to question radical global-warming theories in his novel State of Fear. In response, climate alarmists lashed back, calling him a “global warming denier”—a label that implies something morally and intellectually terrible, as “Holocaust denier” does, for example. Such are the slings and arrows from those who have turned a scientific speculation into a form of nature worship.

I recall a point once made by Dr. Donald MacKay, a late, brilliant brain physiologist in England—and a Christian—who wrote a book refuting the behavioral theories of the atheist B. F. Skinner. He noted that what often passes for rational dispute over truth is, in reality, merely a preference for what is ^“palatable,” dressed up in rational garb.

Because of our fallen natures, people are prone to gravitate to conclusions that are palatable. We like what is convenient or what appeals to our pride and our desire to “be like God” (Gen. 3:5). Which is why futile thoughts (to quote Paul in Romans), or ^“speculations,” as the New American Standard Bible puts it, can be so dangerous; human reason must be reined in by clear, irrefutable facts, not merely inferences.

Furthermore, our reasoning has to begin with the pre-supposition that, if we observe orderliness in nature, it is because such order was created by the Creator. The more we push aside the Creator and deify the creation, the more futile and dangerous our thoughts become.

None of these points are meant to diminish the role of true science. Rather, they are a reminder of what many good Bible teachers tell us: The only things we can afford to be totally absolutist about are those things that God has absolutely decided to reveal in His Word.

Craig L. Parshall is senior vice president and general counsel for the National Religious Broadcasters.