Sunday, December 27, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

The Ages to Come


"That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7)

People may ridicule Christians for believing in "pie in the sky bye and bye," but the sober truth is that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

Why should we get enamored with the philosophies and projects of this present world when the Scriptures tell us that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God," and that both the wisdom and "the princes of this world" are going to "come to nought" (1 Corinthians 3:19; 2:6).

Anyway, should we not "lay up for selves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal" (Matthew 6:20), instead of foolishly "supposing that gain is godliness" (1 Timothy 6:5)? Christ "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world" (Galatians 1:4), not to make us more comfortable living in it. In fact, "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life . . . passeth away . . . but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:16-17).

God has not promised us pie in the sky, but He has promised to show us "the exceeding riches of his grace." He has assured us that there will be "glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end" (Ephesians 3:21). "And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

Therefore, like Moses, we choose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season," for we have "respect unto the recompense of the reward" (Hebrews 11:25-26). HMM

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas, Dec. 25, 2009

Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Merry Christmas to all!!! God bless you and God bless America!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

Sending Messages by Lightning
December 20, 2009

"Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?" (Job 38:35)

This question posed to Job was one of about 77 rhetorical questions in the remarkable divine monologue of God recorded in Job 38 and 39. This question included a reference to the fearful phenomena of thunder and lightning, which in ancient times were well-known, of course, and so was static electricity.

However, the fact that lightning is really just moving electricity was not fully recognized until Ben Franklin's famous kite experiment in the mid-eighteenth century. Furthermore, the fact that electricity can actually "go," and even carry information with it, was a discovery of quite recent times. God had even spoken of "a way |that is, a path| for the lightning of thunder" (Job 38:25).

Nowadays we have telegraph lines and telephones and radios and televisions and all sorts of devices whereby information is carried by these "lightnings" all over the world. There is even a worldwide web (an "information super highway," some have called it), enabling anyone to communicate electronically with the whole wide world if he wishes to do so, and to acquire just about any information he needs or which someone wants to "e-mail" him.

It is interesting, too, that any kind of formal information transmission program (such as from a television studio) will usually begin with an announcer saying, in effect: "Well, here we are!" and the "lightnings" carry these greetings practically instantaneously to any who are there to receive them.

All of this is the result of modern, sophisticated science and technology. Yet here it is clearly intimated as at least a possibility in what is probably the oldest book in the Bible!

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

Watching Him There
December 13, 2009

"And sitting down they watched him there." (Matthew 27:36)

When the Roman soldiers had finished torturing Jesus and gambling over His garments, finally nailing Him to the cross; and when the Jewish elders, scribes, and chief priests had finished mocking Him and challenging Him to come down from the cross if He could, they all just sat down to enjoy watching Him suffer and die!

But amazingly, what they saw as they watched had been described already, a thousand years before its fulfillment, in the remarkable prophecies of the 22nd Psalm, written as though coming from the inmost thoughts of the suffering one Himself, there on the cross. Even His initial cry was prophesied: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Psalm 22:1).

"All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, he trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. . . . I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. . . . My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. . . . they pierced my hands and my feet. . . . they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture" (Psalm 22:7-8, 14-18).

Space does not allow citing it all here, but one should read the entire psalm, comparing it in detail with the scene at the cross, to feel the profound impact of this moving prophecy and its fulfillment. But also note its conclusion. "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. . . . They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this" (Psalm 22:27, 31). HMM

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Monday, December 7, 2009

One Nation Under God





My aplogies for this being cut off. The You Tube presentation is only available in widescreen, and the server will not shrink to fit.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

Eternal Responsibilities
December 6, 2009

"And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him." (Revelation 22:3)

Frequently, Christians and non-Christians alike have a misconception about the nature of the coming life in heaven. We will not merely "go to heaven" and sit around in some semblance of holy laziness; we will be given jobs to do! Just what those jobs may be, or what they may require, is not specifically revealed to us, but it is abundantly clear that the kind of job, or the degree of responsibility, will be a privilege based on what we do here on earth now.

In the parable of the pounds (Luke 19:11-27), the Lord Jesus illustrates judgment based on productivity. The same amount of money was given to each of the servants, and only one general instruction was issued: "Occupy till I come" (v. 13). The reward that each servant received was in direct proportion to how much profit he had earned on the nobleman's money.

In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the nobleman gave differing amounts to each of his servants "to every man according to his several ability" (v. 15). The reward was based on efficient use of abilities, not on amount of profit produced.

Both of these parables have a common thread: The rewards (analogous to our rewards when the Lord returns), whether based on their productivity or their effectiveness, were rewards of responsibility. To those servants who had proven themselves capable of leadership, the Lord delegated "authority over cities" and rulership "over many things," assuring us that there will be some sort of social order in the age to come. Likewise we, in our present service for the Lord, are now given the opportunity to earn both God's commendation and His future greater stewardship.
h/t: Henry M Morris III, Institute For Creation Research

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

Thanksgiving

"Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God." (2 Corinthians 9:11)

The themes of praise and thanksgiving are very prominent throughout Scripture. The word "praise" and its derivatives occur over 330 times, and "thanks," with its derivatives, over 150 times. When applied to our relation to God, "thanks" are given to Him for what He has done for us, and "praise" for who He is and what He has done for the whole creation. If frequency of occurrence were an indicator, we might conclude that thanksgiving is important and praise-giving is twice as important!

In any case, every Christian believer has a tremendous amount to be thankful for. As in our text, we have been "enriched in every thing to all bountifulness," and it is sad to hear so many complaints and laments coming from Christians who feel they deserve more and better than they have already received from God's good hand.

We are told that the Lord Jesus, instituting the Lord's supper, gave thanks, all the while knowing that the very elements He was blessing spoke of His body that would soon be broken and His blood that would soon be shed. No wonder, therefore, that the apostle Paul reminds us: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Whether in bountifulness of material blessing or in the invaluable school of suffering and discipline, we can please God by a thankful heart and life. A key evidence that a Christian is truly "filled with the Spirit" is that he or she is habitually "giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:18, 20). May God's Spirit "cause through us thanksgiving to God!" HMM

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

God's Divine Detours

"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt." (Exodus 13:17-18)

No driver enjoys having to take a detour, but there is usually a very good reason for it, and we accept it with little question. A divinely prescribed detour in our personal goals, however, often becomes a focus of complaint and discouragement. Detours and delays of one sort or another occur in the life of every Christian, but they are always for good reason. Remember Christ taught that when we have "been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things" (Matthew 25:21). Trials and detours prepare us for greater responsibility and blessing.

The experience of the children of Israel is a prime example. What started as a detour of perhaps 100 miles developed into a delay of 40 years before they were actually prepared to enter the Promised Land. A mob of slaves--carnal and fearful, selfish and complaining, critical and greedy, worldly and idolatrous--somehow had to become a nation of responsible citizens--disciplined and courageous, industrious and law-abiding, God-fearing and spiritual. This transformation required time and chastening and miraculous guidance, but it was all for their ultimate good and for God’s glory.

What God does with His own is by definition right, and we’ll understand it better later on. "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:11). HMM

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

Instant Creation
November 15, 2009

"Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together." (Isaiah 48:13)

This is one of many passages in Scripture which not only tells us that God is Creator of both heaven and earth, but also that He created them instantaneously. Creation is not a "process," but a miraculous event! With a wave of the hand, so to speak, God simply called them into being.

This is also the testimony of the incomparable account of creation in Genesis. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). This primeval testimony does not say: "From the beginning, God has been creating heaven and earth" as theistic evolutionists would say. Creation of all things was an event completed in the past.

The divinely inspired psalmist agrees: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. . . . For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast" (Psalm 33:6, 9). "For he commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished them for ever and ever" (Psalm 148:5-6).

Furthermore, according to our text, when God spoke into existence the heavens and the earth, they both proceeded to "stand up together!" He did not create the heavens 15 billion years ago, then the earth only about five billion years ago, as some creationists allege. They stood up together! "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is" (Exodus 20:11).

It is important to recognize the recent creation of all things, not only because God said so, but also because the multi-billion-year framework of cosmic evolution, pushing God as far away and long ago as possible, is merely the modern pseudoscientific way of getting rid of Him altogether! Christians should not compromise with such a system! HMM

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

A Provoked Spirit
November 8, 2009

"They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips." (Psalm 106:32-33)

This terse passage summarizes the tragic events described in Numbers 20:1-13. If ever a religious leader had a right to be provoked with an ungrateful and complaining flock, Moses did. Finally, after years of privation in the wilderness, the people complained once too often, and Moses could take it no longer (or so he thought). In anger, he rebuked the rebels and smote the rock, taking credit himself for God's miraculous provision of water. As a result, God rebuked him, and he was not allowed to enter the promised land.

It is all too easy, in times of pressure and inconsiderate selfishness all around us, to rise up in "righteous indignation" and, like Moses, "spake unadvisedly with |our| lips." This is surely one of Satan's most common devices. Such verbal assaults may be well deserved and may seem to give personal satisfaction for a time, but they are usually counter-productive in the long run and very hurtful to one's testimony for Christ to those so assaulted (imagine Peter trying to witness to Malchus after he had sliced off Malchus' ear in anger!). Unfortunately, "the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8).

The Lord Jesus Himself is the ideal example in this difficult realm for "he was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). He could have called ten legions of angels to destroy His tormentors, but instead He prayed: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Let us not be easily provoked to so-called righteous indignation. "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" (1 Peter 2:21). HMM

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

The Veil over the Nations
November 1, 2009

"And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations." (Isaiah 25:7)

Many people feel that every nation should be encouraged simply to practice its own religion. God's Word, however, makes it plain that all nations are blinded, cut off from the truth by a deadly covering. This is true of the Jews, for "even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart" (2 Corinthians 3:15). It is also true of the Gentiles, who have "the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Ephesians 4:18).

The veil that keeps them in such darkness is a Satanic blindfold. "The god of this world |i.e., Satan| hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (2 Corinthians 4:4). And how did the devil ever gain such control over human minds? "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. . . . Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator" (Romans 1:21, 25).

So today, men and women almost everywhere--atheists, Communists, humanists, Buddhists, Confucianists, animists, Hindus, Taoists, Shintoists, occultists, "New Agers," and even the "liberals" in the monotheistic religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity)--really all believe and practice the same religion, rejecting God as Creator and worshipping instead some man or man-exalting evolutionary philosophy.

Someday, God will destroy this pervasive veil over the nations. In the meantime, we must reach everyone we can with the true and everlasting gospel of Christ, for that "vail is done away in Christ" (2 Corinthians 3:14). HMM

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sunday Sermonette-Seperation from God

October 25, 2009

"And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden." (Genesis 4:16)

This is a very sad and ominous verse, foreshadowing the tragic fate of all those who "have gone in the way of Cain" (Jude 11). "A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth," God had said (Genesis 4:12), destined to a restless life of moving to and fro in "the land of Nod" (literally, "the land of wandering") all the rest of his days.

Cain's basic sin was not just the murder of Abel. "And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3:12). "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts" (Hebrews 11:4). Abel's work of sacrifice was judged righteous by God, and Cain's was not, because Cain "was of that wicked one" (1 John 3:12). He had refused to offer the blood of an acceptable sacrifice for his sins (and thus forfeited God's witness that he was righteous), instead offering the fruits of the cursed ground, produced by his own efforts. But then Abel's shed blood entered that ground, so even it could " ;not henceforth yield unto thee her strength" (Genesis 4:12), and Cain became a wanderer.

Thus it will be in eternity for all those who refuse to come to God through the blood of the one acceptable Sacrifice, His own righteous Son. They shall "have no rest day nor night" (Revelation 14:11), like "wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever" (Jude 13), "who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

Such eternal separation from God is the very essence of hell. In glorious contrast to such a prospect, all who come to God through Christ will "ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). HMM

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sunday Sermonette-Now is the Time

"For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)

There are many wonderful things that we as Christians are looking forward to in the ages to come, when the earth and our bodies are made new and the entire beautiful creation of God is open to us for all eternity. But there are also many wonderful privileges that belong to us right now as well.

First of all, our eternal salvation is here and now, for this is the time acceptable to God in which to receive His great salvation through faith in Christ. No one will ever be saved in the ages of eternity, for all who enjoy His salvation then will have received it now.

Those who have salvation now also have been set free from condemnation (or "judgment") now. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Romans 5:9). "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight" (Colossians 1:21-22).

Not only do we now have the assurance of eternal salvation, but we also have all necessary provisions for a happy, fruitful, victorious life in this present age. "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God" (Galatians 2:20).

Now, because all these doctrines are present realities, we have full confidence that all God’s yet-to-be-realized promises are also true. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God . . . but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). HMM

h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute for Creation Research

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Sunday Sermonette-The Wages or a Gift?

"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

This wonderful verse has been used by the Holy Spirit countless times to bring a person to the point of salvation, and rightly so. Seldom did the author of Scripture pack so much into so few words, and seldom is the gospel of salvation more clearly and succinctly presented.

Perhaps the key to this verse and its teaching is the little word but, for marvelous contrasts hinge on it. In fact, pointing out the parallel but contrasting statements has proven to be an effective witnessing tool. Let us consider these individual contrasts.

First, wages versus gift: Wages are something that must be earned, while a gift cannot be earned; it is free. The wages of employment follow directly from having done the work, just as the wages of sin follow directly from having done the sin. Similarly, the gift of God follows directly from God’s own character. He is a loving, gracious God, who freely showers His gifts on those who will accept them.

Second, sin versus God, or sin versus the sinless one: We might even define sin as the opposite of godliness. Sin is the deed which merits the wages, while God is the being who gives the gift. Sin is a wrong action, attitude, or thought, while God is a person, active and loving. Sin takes; God gives.

Third, death eternal versus life eternal: Conscious existence in separation from God versus conscious existence in communion with God. Sin brings death, surely and permanently; God gives eternal life.

This gift of eternal life is not given capriciously, however; it is based on the work of Jesus Christ, the one who Himself collected the wages of our sin. The sinner who accepts God’s gift, through Jesus Christ, can hardly fail to recognize Him as Lord. JDM

h/t: J D Morris, Institute for Creation Research

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Sunday Sermonette II

Behold, He Cometh
October 4, 2009

"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." (Revelation 1:7)

This striking verse, which deals with the return of Christ, contains several aspects well worth our study.

First: "Behold, he cometh." This event is still future, but it is as sure as if it had already taken place. Christ will return.

Second: "They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). His coming "with clouds" was also prophesied in Daniel 7:13, Matthew 26:64, Acts 1:11, and elsewhere.

Third: "Every eye shall see him." Who is included here? Certainly everyone living at the time, both Christian and non-Christian. But also the saved dead and raptured saints will be present (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Can it be that the unsaved dead will likewise "see" Him come? Those who died without Christ should be vitally interested. Either the coming rebellion will defeat Christ and free their spirits from Hades, or they will soon face certain, final judgment.

Fourth, notice the different reactions. His tormentors will be in horrible distress; those who "pierced him" will be in inexpressible anguish as they realize the awful consequences of their actions. Who pierced Him? Certainly Israel, but the collective sins of all men of all ages pierced Him. Some have gained forgiveness and will gladly see Him come; others have refused and will "wail" at His return.

Saints in heaven and on earth will delight in His coming. To them, it means release from persecution, justice on their persecutors, and a righteous kingdom established. It will mean questions answered, imperfections removed, the curse repealed. Any distress felt for friends and loved ones still living in rejection will be swallowed up in the rightness of the action. JDM

h/t: J D Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Sunday Sermonette

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

Haste Makes Waste
September 27, 2009

"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste." (Isaiah 28:16)

This is one of the great Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, promising a Savior who would be the sure foundation of the eternal temple of God; yet it was 700 years before the promise was fulfilled. God did not "make haste," but His promise, nevertheless, was sure. No doubt many believing Jews wondered why it was taking so long, but in the "fulness of the time" (Galatians 4:4), Christ came.

It is so easy to rush ahead of God instead of waiting for His leading. With good intentions and admirable zeal, Christians plan great programs, establish new organizations, promote legislation, and become involved in a thousand-and-one good activities, all in the name of Christ and His kingdom. Such activism is urgent, they believe, because the time is short. The Communists are coming; nuclear war is coming; maybe even Christ is coming; and we must hurry.

But the Scripture says: "Therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him" (Isaiah 30:18).

We must not fail to follow when He really leads through His Word, but all too often undue haste results in confusion and collapse. When our text is quoted by Peter (1 Peter 2:6), the phrase "make haste" is rendered by "be confounded," or "be ashamed." It is not honoring to God for Christian projects and activities to "be confounded," so Christian believers must be careful not to "make haste." "Wait, I say, on the LORD" (Psalm 27:14). HMM

h/t: Henry M. Morris, Institute For Creation Research

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

Romans 10:8b-10: "'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'-that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes,resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." NASB

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

"This is the day that the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Friday, September 11, 2009

Remember 9/11/2001

Sept. 11, 2001 A day to remember. A time to forgive. A time to pray for those who lost loved ones. I don't care what the left says about G.W. Bush...God gave the man the ability to protect us from terrorism for nearly 8 years. Now we should be afraid of very real threats from within. God bless America.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Prosperity

"You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Adrian Rogers, 1931

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Sunday Sermonette-God's Best

Romans 8:28 " And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." NASB

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Friendship Forever

A friend is someone that knows the song in your heart
and they will sing it to you when you forget the words.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sunday Sermonette II

Prepared for You

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34)

In context, this wonderful promise may apply specifically to those living believers recognized as "sheep" by Christ when He returns to judge the nations (or "Gentiles") at the end of the age. For them He has prepared a wonderful kingdom in which they can fully serve their great King here on earth. The "goats," on the other hand, will be sent away into "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).

But we remember also that the Lord Jesus Christ has also prepared a mansion in heaven for His faithful disciples. "In my Father's house are many mansions . . . I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2).

He is, even now, preparing for us that glorious place. One day, it will be fully prepared, and we shall see it when He brings it down from heaven, as John did in his great vision. "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2).

It will, indeed, be a wonderful place of "many mansions," and John describes some of its beauties in the Bible's last two chapters. But that is not all. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). Therefore, we can say with Paul: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). He has indeed prepared a great eternal future for His redeemed children. HMM

h/t: Henry M. Morris, Institute for Creation Research

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

The Gift of Grace

"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (James 4:6)

The grace of God is not something to be earned, for it is "unmerited favor." We can never deserve salvation or the many other blessings which God provides, but "the gift |meaning 'the grace,' or 'the free gift'--Greek, charis| of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23). "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

It logically follows that if God in Christ has lavished such abundant grace toward us, we likewise should manifest grace toward others. But such grace in us is no more achievable by human effort then is God's grace toward us. Grace is always the gift of God--received in humility, never in pride.

As our text says, a proud person can never be a gracious person, for God will not give His gifts to those who are proud. James is here paraphrasing Proverbs 3:34: "Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly." The apostle Peter also brings out this truth: "Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). Finally, as Paul says, even true Christian leadership is a gift of grace. "I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesi ans 3:7-8). We should never forget that all God's blessings come by His grace alone, and He gives grace to the humble, not the proud. HMM

h/t: Henry M. Morris, Institute for Creation Research

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

13 Minutes of Your Time

http://www.pjtv.com/video/Afterburner_with_Bill_Whittle/___MSNBC_%26_The_Great_Liberal_Narrative%3A_The_Truth_About_The_Tyranny_of_Political_Correctness/2343/


This is a copy and paste to address bar situation. This blogsite is having a bad time with links.

ACLU-Paranoia or Truth?

http://www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf

Copy and paste to address bar. For some reason the blogsite will not post as a link.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Marine Veteran at a Townhall

Sunday Sermonette-Who's To Blame?

By Charles F. Stanley

Few people willingly take responsibility for their temptations; it’s much easier to blame someone or something else. Passing the buck in this area is nothing new. When God asked Adam why he had eaten from the forbidden tree, he replied:

The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate"
(Gen. 3:12).

The very first time man was confronted by God about his sin, he pointed to someone else—his wife! Eve responded in a similar way:

The serpent deceived me, and I ate (Gen. 3:13).

But blaming someone or something else did not work in the beginning, and it will not work now. God still held Adam and Eve accountable for their actions and threw them out of the garden (Gen. 3:23-24).

Pointing your finger at someone or something else for a particular weakness appears to take the responsibility off your shoulders. However, until you are willing to honestly admit your failures, you will be unable to do anything about them. Let’s take a look at common ways people try to excuse their guilt.

“But that’s just the way I am.”

Many people blame their personality for their inability to deal with particular temptations. The implication is, “I have always been this way, and I always will be.” I hear this frequently from those with out-of-control tempers or people who refuse to talk openly in the midst of conflict. But God does not excuse poor behavior, and no one else should either.

Have you been using your personality as an excuse rather than trying to change? If you have, it is time to quit justifying yourself. To do otherwise is to rob yourself of the joy that comes with the freedom of putting bad habits behind you.

“It’s everywhere.”

Another excuse people use is that of circumstances or environment. “If it weren’t for the people I work with (or my difficult home life, etc.) I wouldn’t have this problem.” Unmarried men and women are increasingly using their singleness as an excuse to engage in premarital sex. Blaming your habits on circumstances allows someone or something to control your destiny in that area. Certainly, there comes a time to change jobs, friends, or whatever is contributing to your problem. But first you must come to grips with the fact that you are responsible for your behavior.

“My parents are to blame.”

We know that parents make a huge impact on their children, and the effects—for better or worse—can last throughout life. Unfortunately, some people use this insight as an excuse rather than a tool to aid in the process of change. They shift the responsibility for their sins from themselves to their parents, with explanations like, “If my mom and dad hadn’t treated me the way they did, I wouldn’t have these problems.”

Your mother and father may have set you up for the challenges you face today. However, you are accountable before God to deal with the things in your life that need to change.

“The Devil made me do it.”

This is an excuse that has been around since the beginning (Gen. 3:13). Satan does have something to do with the temptation process, but we need to be aware that he cannot make us do anything. The only power the “father of lies” has over people is through manipulation and deceit (John 8:44). When the Devil dangles bait right in front of us, we become so attuned to our fleshly desires that we may feel as if he is drawing us towards evil. But in each case, we actually make the choice whether to sin. The Devil does not hold us down and force us to do wrong.

“Lord, how could You?”

Many believers blame God for their temptations. But Scripture is clear that the Lord does not entice us to sin:

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone (James 1:13).

We live in an imperfect world, surrounded by people who make evil choices. The Lord is not to blame; man is. One day you and I will have to stand before Him and give an account of our deeds
(2 Cor. 5:9-10). Each of us must take responsibility for our unwillingness—and at times inability—to withstand temptation.

What about you?

Have you fallen into the trap of making excuses for the recurring sins in your life? Are you no longer convicted of transgressions that used to drive you to confession and repentance? Have you convinced yourself that God understands your particular situation and won’t hold you accountable?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you must make a decision. God didn’t accept Adam and Eve’s attempts to shift the blame. He doesn’t accept yours either. Who is to blame for your failure to deal successfully with temptation? You are. Face up to this fact, and you will take a giant step towards overcoming temptation.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Subversion-This Explains a Lot

Why the Rush?

Why does the left always come down on the wrong side of things? Why the rush to Universal Healthcare? Why the rush to Carbon Cap & Trade? Why the rush to put money into other country's oil explorations when we have plenty of our own? Why the rush to give away so much money when there is no money of their's to give? Why the rush to control the carmakers? Why the rush to make laws regarding Hate Crimes? Why the rush to attempt to silence Christians and conservatives? Why do they not listen? Why do the left always bring up race? Why do they always attempt to baffle every argument and pepper their speech with obvious lies? Why do they not listen to those who have conservative Christian views? Why do they accuse everybody else of the evils they themselves are most guilty of? Why? Why? Why?

I think you can see what I would like here. We need to answer these and other questions about our own ideals and our own faith in Christ, and we must do it very quickly. For you see my friends, if we do not, we will have "bought the farm" of our own volition by not doing our God given duty to witness to others and by not doing our God given duty to stand for what's good and honest and true in regard to the governance of America.

One might say "Our founding fathers must be rolling over in their graves" at what is going on in America today. I disagree. I believe they knew full well what could and would happen if we let down our guard for even a second. That is the reason for the wording of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. If we had not lost vigilance, we would not have the mess we have now, and the "trainwreck" of an Administration, House and Senate looking for the next best place to bail out before the train crashes and burns.

I like many others, sat and watched during the 1970s, and saw Roe vs. Wade become the "law of the land." I heard stories about the left wanting to "dumb down" those in public education. I heard the list of 45 things it would take to make America communist. I saw daycare centers start to stay open 24 hrs. a day to accommodate those working mothers that worked all night, wondering why on earth would they do that? I saw America starting to apologize to the rest of the world for who knows what preceived wrongs we had done. I saw our military having to apologize to the American people for doing their jobs. Why does this effect me and my family?

We had a good job and a house and two cars and nothing could ever change for the worse. I, my friends, as I'm sure we all did, sat upon those worldly laurels and did precisely nothing! Now I see clearly that I/we didn't do anything necessarily wrong. What was wrong was that I/we did nothing at all. Like was said in an old Pogo comic once many years ago, "We have met the enemy and he is us!"

The only solution to this massive problem we have built for ourselves is to pray unceasingly for an "awakening, a repentance and a revival" in America, and America may once more be healed and stand as a lighthouse of truth and justice to the rest of the world.

We must now stand for what is true, right and honorable; in some cases for the first time in our lives. God must guide our words and deeds. If we go off and do our own thing we might make bigger and worse mistakes than were made in the first place by our own inactions. Christ is King! This we must never doubt nor forget.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Carbon Cap & Trade-No Way Jose!

Do you want to pay more for less energy?
When they return from their August vacations, Senators will debate the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade legislation, which is intended to curb global warming. As lawmakers debate the proposal, which already passed the House, Heritage Foundation experts are once again reminding Americans of the significant economic losses the nation faces should the plan become law.

A new study released by Heritage's Center for Data Analysis directly challenges government analyses and exposes the devastating effects cap-and-trade would have on individual families, the job market and the nation's finances.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin quoted at length from this Heritage report on her Facebook page. Add your comments and join the conversation here.


The recession has left millions of Americans facing unemployment, pay and benefit cuts, and salary freezes. According to Heritage's careful projections, by 2035 the Left's global warming plan will only increase the economic pain.

Paying More at the Pump. Gasoline prices will rise 58 percent (or $1.38) above their natural increase. Americans will also pay 55 percent more for natural gas, 56 percent more for heating oil and a whopping 90 percent more for electricity.
Hurting Families. Annual energy costs for a family of four will grow by $1,241 -- $4,609 including taxes -- forcing families to reduce consumption of goods and services by $3,000 each year as incomes and savings fall.
Creating a Poorer America. By 2035, America will be $9.4 trillion poorer with cap-and-trade than without it. On top of that, the national debt will increase by $12,803 per person.
Stifling Job Creation. In addition to establishing a framework for a less prosperous country, cap-and-trade will stifle opportunity and hurt an already-struggling job market. The supposed "green jobs" the Left claims Waxman-Markey creates pale in comparison to the nearly 2.5 million jobs it destroys.
So what do we get for all this? Not much: "no more than .2 degree (Celsius) moderation in world temperature increases by 2100 and no more than a .05 degree reduction by 2050," writes Heritage energy expert David Kreutzer.

Heritage experts have a better idea. Lawmakers should grant "access to all energy sources, including domestic oil production, nuclear energy, coal, and new renewable fuels. Instead of new taxes, the President should aim to lower gas and electricity prices. When government impediments are lifted, America's energy entrepreneurs can develop innovative and market-driven solutions to our energy needs."


h/t Amanda Reinecker from The Heritage Foundation

Re: Gov't. Healthcare

Hey, when something's wrong, it's just plain wrong. BHO needs to realize, just like the House and Senate, that they work for us, not ON us! I wish I knew all the ins & outs of Constitutional law...."redress of grievances & recalls", etc. We need to get this bunch of thugs gone and replaced with those who will do what's good for America, not what ACORN & their ilk want. How many times in history has the "left" come down on the side of what is right? Not too bloody often I'll wager! (Pardon my use of the Queen's English!) :-)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

Jesus Is Lord “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7 )

This pretty much says it all. Putting God first above all else is what we are called to do.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Explanation of Obama ?

Interesting little bit on Obama on the local talk radio today while I was out hunting Starbucks. I got one to…anyway…..the guy named Mark something or other, filling in for the regular host on KOGO here in San Diego County said Obama is culturally not American. He has no idea how Americans live or who we are. He is more culturally Indonesian (he does not believe the birther crap) than American. But think about it, the dude goes from Hawaii, to Indonesia to Chicago to Harvard back to Chicago. Remember the episode of Star Trek where the whole world on this one planet was Chicago? See? Thats his biggest problem. Whats more is he doesn’t like us, he does not get us.


h/t Stephanie www.threedonia.com


Personal note: the Star Trek episode mentioned took place on a distant planet that had been receiving TV signals from earth in the form of the program "The Untouchables" and thought it was like the society on earth. They then set about to making their whole society like gangland Chicago.

This statement could go a long way toward explaining why BHO seems so detached from the regular Mr. & Mrs. America that makes up a great percentage of our country. He seems to have a very real disconnect from the reality of American life.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Monday, August 10, 2009

TODAY! (ie:nowadays)

God Gave Them Up
August 9, 2009

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." (Romans 1:28)

This is a terrifying verse, climaxing the awful indictment (in Romans 1:18-32) of God against a world in rebellion against its maker. This burning passage begins with Paul's declaration that God's wrath has been revealed against all those who "hold the truth"--or, more explicitly, "hold down or suppress the truth" in unrighteousness.

Then, in a rising crescendo of testimonies of wickedness and resulting condemnation, one fearful clause appears no less than three times: "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts. . . . For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. . . . God gave them over to a reprobate mind" (vv. 24, 26, 28).

As terrible as such judgments seem, the provocations were infinitely worse. They "changed the glory of the uncorruptible God" into idols depicting His creatures (v. 23). They "changed the truth of God into a lie" and rejected Him as Creator (v. 25). They subjected Him to critical philosophical scrutiny, and chose not "to retain God in their knowledge" at all (implied in the Greek "did not like") (v. 28). Thus it was that our God of all grace finally had to give them up!

But the frightening thing is that this dark scene describes more than ancient paganism. Every verse is also a precise indictment of this present, evil "post-Christian" world, as we almost seem to be reading therein a documentary of the present age. What a picture it draws of modern evolutionary humanism in practice!

Yet the apostle Paul was still preparing to go to Rome, "not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," for that gospel was then--and still is--"the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Romans 1:16). HMM

h/t: Henry M. Morris, Institute for Creation research

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

The Return to the Upper Room
August 8, 2009

"And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room. . . . These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." (Acts 1:13-14)

What a myriad of thoughts must have been swirling through the believers' heads as they walked the mile or so back to Jerusalem after Christ ascended into heaven. They had many enemies in Jerusalem, but they walked fearlessly because He who claimed "all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18) promised that "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (v. 20). They obediently assembled in "an upper room" (literally "the" upper room) to wait and pray.

Notice who is present. The list includes the eleven remaining disciples, reassembled after scattering: Peter, who had denied the Lord, had gained sweet forgiveness; doubting Thomas had his skepticisms answered; and John was there, the "disciple whom Jesus loved." But even he had deserted his Lord in the garden as the soldiers came.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there. She had raised Him as a completely loving and obedient child, only to see Him ridiculed and opposed. She anguished as only a mother could, to see Him hanging on the tree, but her anguish had been quelled. At least two of her other sons were there, presumably New Testament authors James and Jude. Earlier, they had scoffed, but now they understood. Other women were also present, those who were the last ones at the cross and the first to see Him once the tomb had yielded up its dead. The entire group can be pictured as a trophy of His grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

They gathered together in perfect "accord," a common bond of faith and purpose, praying and petitioning God for His will and power. Might we not see many examples for our lives and prayers in these verses. JDM

h/t: J D Morris, Institute for Creation Reasearch

Daniel Hannan In Denver-(Watch all parts)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Obama Birth Certificate-Yea or Nay?

July 30, 2009, 0:00 a.m.

Suborned in the U.S.A.
The birth-certificate controversy is about Obama’s honesty, not where he was born.

By Andrew C. McCarthy


Throughout the 2008 campaign, Barack Hussein Obama claimed it was a “smear” to refer to him as “Barack Hussein Obama.” The candidate had initially rhapsodized over how his middle name, the name of the prophet Mohammed’s grandson, would signal a new beginning in American relations with the Muslim world. But when the nomination fight intensified, Obama decided that Islamic heritage was a net negative. So, with a media reliably uncurious about political biographies outside metropolitan Wasilla, Obama did what Obama always does: He airbrushed his personal history on the fly.

Suddenly, it was “just making stuff up,” as Obama put it, for questioners “to say that, you know, maybe he’s got Muslim connections.” “The only connection I’ve had to Islam,” the candidate insisted, “is that my grandfather on my father’s side came from [Kenya]. But I’ve never practiced Islam.” Forget about “Hussein”; the mere mention of Obama’s middle initial — “H” — riled the famously thin-skinned senator. Supporters charged that “shadowy attackers” were “lying about Barack’s religion, claiming he is a Muslim.” The Obamedia division at USA Today, in a report subtly titled “Obama’s grandma slams ‘untruths,’” went so far as to claim that Obama’s Kenyan grandmother is a Christian — even though a year earlier, when Obama’s “flaunt Muslim ties” script was still operative, the New York Times had described the same woman, 85-year-old Sara Hussein Obama, as a “lifelong Muslim” who proclaimed, “I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith.”

Such was the ardor of Obama’s denials that jaws dropped when, once safely elected, he reversed course (again) and embraced his Islamic heritage. “The president himself experienced Islam on three continents,” an administration spokesman announced. “You know, growing up in Indonesia, having a Muslim father . . .” The “Muslim father” theme was an interesting touch: During the campaign, when the question of Barack Hussein Obama Sr.’s Islamic faith reared its head, the candidate curtly denied it with an air of what’s-that-got-to-do-with-me? finality: “My father was basically agnostic, as far as I can tell, and I didn’t know him.” And, it turns out, the spokesman’s fleeting bit about “growing up in Indonesia” wasn’t the half of it: Obama had actually been raised as a Muslim in Indonesia — or, at least that’s what his parents told his schools (more on that in due course).

These twists and turns in the Obama narrative rush to mind when we consider National Review’s leap into the Obama-birth-certificate fray with Tuesday’s editorial, “Born in the U.S.A.”

The editorial desire to put to rest the “Obama was born in Kenya” canard is justifiable. The overwhelming evidence is that Obama was born an American citizen on Aug. 4, 1961, which almost certainly makes him constitutionally eligible to hold his office. I say “almost certainly” because Obama, as we shall see, presents complex dual-citizenship issues. For now, let’s just stick with what’s indisputable: He was also born a Kenyan citizen. In theory, that could raise a question about whether he qualifies as a “natural born” American — an uncharted constitutional concept.

The mission of National Review has always included keeping the Right honest, which includes debunking crackpot conspiracy theories. The theory that Obama was born in Kenya, that he was smuggled into the U.S., and that his parents somehow hoodwinked Hawaiian authorities into falsely certifying his birth in Oahu, is crazy stuff. Even Obama’s dual Kenyan citizenship is of dubious materiality: It is a function of foreign law, involving no action on his part (to think otherwise, you’d have to conclude that if Yemen passed a law tomorrow saying, “All Americans — except, of course, Jews — are hereby awarded Yemeni citizenship,” only Jewish Americans could henceforth run for president). In any event, even if you were of a mind to indulge the Kenyan-birth fantasy, stop, count to ten, and think: Hillary Clinton. Is there any chance on God’s green earth that, if Obama were not qualified to be president, the Clinton machine would have failed to get that information out?

CERTIFICATE AND CERTIFICATION

So, end of story, right? Well, no. The relevance of information related to the birth of our 44th president is not limited to his eligibility to be our 44th president. On this issue, NRO’s editorial has come in for some blistering criticism. The editorial argues:


The fundamental fiction is that Obama has refused to release his “real” birth certificate. This is untrue. The document that Obama has made available is the document that Hawaiian authorities issue when they are asked for a birth certificate. There is no secondary document cloaked in darkness, only the state records that are used to generate birth certificates when they are requested.

On reflection, I think this was an ill-considered assertion. (I should add that I saw a draft of the editorial before its publication, was invited to comment, and lodged no objection to this part.) The folly is made starkly clear in the photos that accompany this angry (at NRO) post from Dave Jeffers, who runs a blog called “Salt and Light.”

To summarize: What Obama has made available is a Hawaiian “certification of live birth” (emphasis added), not a birth certificate (or what the state calls a “certificate of live birth”). The certification form provides a short, very general attestation of a few facts about the person’s birth: name and sex of the newborn; date and time of birth; city or town of birth, along with the name of the Hawaiian island and the county; the mother’s maiden name and race; the father’s name and race; and the date the certification was filed. This certification is not the same thing as the certificate, which is what I believe we were referring to in the editorial as “the state records that are used to generate birth certificates [sic] when they are requested.”

To the contrary, “the state records” are the certificate. They are used to generate the more limited birth certifications on request. As the Jeffers post shows, these state records are far more detailed. They include, for example, the name of the hospital, institution, or street address where the birth occurred; the full name, age, birthplace, race, and occupation of each parent; the mother’s residential address (and whether that address is within the city or town of birth); the signature of at least one parent (or “informant”) attesting to the accuracy of the information provided; the identity and signature of an attending physician (or other “attendant”) who certifies the occurrence of a live birth at the time and place specified; and the identity and signature of the local registrar who filed the birth record.

Plainly, this is different (additional) information from what is included in the certification. Yet, our editorial says that “several state officials have confirmed that the information in permanent state records is identical to that on the president’s birth certificate [by which we clearly meant ‘certification’],” and that the “director of Hawaii’s health department and the registrar of records each has personally verified that the information on Obama’s birth certificate [i.e., certification] is identical to that in the state’s records, the so-called vault copy.” (Italics mine.)



That misses the point. The information in the certification may be identical as far as it goes to what’s in the complete state records, but there are evidently many more details in the state records than are set forth in the certification. Contrary to the editors’ description, those who want to see the full state record — the certificate or the so-called “vault copy” — are not on a wild-goose chase for a “secondary document cloaked in darkness.” That confuses their motives (which vary) with what they’ve actually requested (which is entirely reasonable). Regardless of why people may want to see the vault copy, what’s been requested is a primary document that is materially more detailed than what Obama has thus far provided.

Now, let’s address motives for a moment. Are some of those demanding the full state records engaged in a futile quest to prove Obama is not a U.S. citizen? Are they on what the editors call “the hunt for a magic bullet that will make all the unpleasant complications of [Obama’s] election and presidency disappear”? Sure they are. But not everyone who wants to see the full state records falls into that category. I, for one, have very different reasons for being curious.

WHO IS THIS GUY?

Before January 20 of this year, Barack Obama had a negligible public record. He burst onto the national scene what seemed like five minutes before his election to the presidency: a first-term U.S. senator who actually served less than four years in that post — after a short time as a state legislator, some shadowy years as a “community organizer,” and scholastic terms at Occidental, Columbia, and Harvard that remain shrouded in mystery. The primary qualification supporters offered for Obama’s candidacy was his compelling life story, as packaged in 850 pages’ worth of the not one but two autobiographies this seemingly unaccomplished candidate had written by the age of 45.

Yet we now know that this life story is chock full of fiction. Typical and disturbing, to take just one example, is the entirely fabricated account in Dreams from My Father of Obama’s first job after college:


Eventually a consulting house to multinational corporations agreed to hire me as a research assistant. Like a spy behind enemy lines, I arrived every day at my mid-Manhattan office and sat at my computer terminal, checking the Reuters machine that blinked bright emerald messages from across the globe. As far as I could tell I was the only black man in the company, a source of shame for me but a source of considerable pride for the company’s secretarial pool. They treated me like a son, those black ladies; they told me how they expected me to run the company one day. . . . The company promoted me to the position of financial writer. I had my own office, my own secretary, money in the bank. Sometimes, coming out of an interview with Japanese financiers or German bond traders, I would catch my reflection in the elevator doors — see myself in a suit and tie, a briefcase in my hand — and for a split second I would imagine myself as a captain of industry, barking out orders, closing the deal, before I remembered who it was that I had told myself I wanted to be and felt pangs of guilt for my lack of resolve. . . .

As the website Sweetness & Light details, this is bunk. Obama did not work at “a consulting house to multinational corporations”; it was, a then-colleague of his has related, “a small company that published newsletters on international business.” He wasn’t the only black man in the company, and he didn’t have an office, have a secretary, wear a suit and tie on the job, or conduct “interviews” with “Japanese financiers or German bond traders” — he was a junior copyeditor.

What’s unnerving about this is that it is so gratuitous. It would have made no difference to anyone curious about Obama’s life that he, like most of us, took a ho-hum entry-level job to establish himself. But Obama lies about the small things, the inconsequential things, just as he does about the important ones — depending on what he is trying to accomplish at any given time.

In the above fairy tale, he sought to frame his life as a morality play: the hero giving up the cushy life of the capitalist “enemy” for the virtues of community organizing. But we’ve seen this dance a hundred times. If Obama wants to strike a connection with graduating students in Moscow, he makes up a story about meeting his “future wife . . . in class” (Barack and Michelle Obama met at work). If he wants to posture about his poverty and struggle in America, he waxes eloquent about his single mother’s surviving on “food stamps” so she could use every cent to send him “to the best schools in the country” (Obama was raised by his maternal grandparents, who had good jobs and were able to pull strings to get him into an elite Hawaiian prep school). If he wants to tie himself to the civil-rights struggle of African Americans, he tells an audience in Selma, “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma . . . so [my parents] got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born” (Obama was born in 1961, four years before the civil-rights march in Selma — by which time his parents had divorced and his mother was planning a move to Indonesia with the second of her two non-African-American husbands). If he wants to buy a home he can’t afford, he “unwittingly” collaborates with a key fundraiser (who had been publicly reported to be under federal investigation for fraud and political corruption). If he wants to sell a phony stimulus as a job-creator, he tells the country that Caterpillar has told him the stimulus will enable the company “to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off” (Caterpillar’s CEO actually said no, “we’re going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again”).

The fact is that Obama’s account of his background is increasingly revealed as a fabrication, not his life as lived; his utterances reflect the expediencies of the moment, not the truth. What is supposed to save the country from fraudulence of this sort is the media. Here, though, the establishment press is deep in Obama’s tank — so much so that they can’t even accurately report his flub of a ceremonial opening pitch lest he come off as something less than Sandy Koufax. Astonishingly, reporters see their job not as reporting Obama news but as debunking Obama news, or flat-out suppressing it. How many Americans know, for example, that as a sitting U.S. senator in 2006, Obama interfered in a Kenyan election, publicly ripping the incumbent government (a U.S. ally) for corruption while he was its guest and barnstorming with his preferred candidate: a Marxist now known to have made a secret agreement with Islamists to convert Kenya to sharia law, and whose supporters, upon losing the election, committed murder and mayhem, displacing thousands of Kenyans and plunging their country into utter chaos?

A MUSLIM CITIZEN OF INDONESIA
The aforementioned Indonesian interval in Obama’s childhood is instructive. Obama and the media worked in tireless harmony to refute any indication that he had ever been a Muslim. It’s now apparent, however, not only that he was raised as a Muslim while living for four years in the world’s most populous Islamic country, but that he very likely became a naturalized citizen of Indonesia.



Shortly after divorcing Barack Obama Sr., Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, married an Indonesian Muslim, Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo, whom she met — just as she had met Barack Sr. — when both were students at the University of Hawaii. At some point, Soetoro almost certainly adopted the youngster, who became known as “Barry Soetoro.” Obama’s lengthy, deeply introspective autobiographies do not address whether he was adopted by the stepfather whose surname he shared for many years, but in all likelihood that did happen in Hawaii, before the family moved to Jakarta.

Under Indonesian law, adoption before the age of six by an Indonesian male qualified a child for citizenship. According to Dreams from My Father, Obama was four when he met Lolo Soetoro; his mother married Soetoro shortly thereafter; and Obama was already registered for school when he and his mother relocated to Jakarta, where Soetoro was an oil-company executive and liaison to the Suharto government. That was in 1966, when Obama was five. Obama attended Indonesian elementary schools, which, in Suharto’s police state, were generally reserved for citizens (and students were required to carry identity cards that matched student registration information). The records of the Catholic school Obama/Soetoro attended for three years identify him as a citizen of Indonesia. Thus Obama probably obtained Indonesian citizenship through his adoption by Soetoro in Hawaii. That inference is bolstered by the 1980 divorce submission of Ann Dunham and Lolo Soetoro, filed in Hawaii state court. It said “the parties” (Ann and Lolo) had a child (name not given) who was no longer a minor (Obama was 19 at the time). If Soetoro had not adopted Obama, there would have been no basis for the couple to refer to Obama as their child — he’d have been only Ann Dunham’s child.

In any event, the records of the Catholic school and the public school Obama attended during his last year in Indonesia identify him as a Muslim. As Obama relates in Dreams from My Father, he took Koran classes. As Obama doesn’t relate in Dreams from My Father, children in Indonesia attended religious instruction in accordance with their family’s chosen faith. Moreover, acquaintances recall that young Barry occasionally attended Friday prayers at the local mosque, and Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama’s half-sister (born after Lolo and Ann moved the family to Jakarta), told the New York Times in a 2008 interview, “My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim.” In fact, back in March 2007 — i.e., during the early “Islamic ties are good” phase of Obama’s campaign — the candidate wistfully shared with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof his memories of the muezzin’s Arabic call to prayer: “one of the prettiest sounds on earth at sunset.” Kristof marveled at the “first-rate accent” with which Obama was able to repeat its opening lines.

The point here is not to join another crackpot conspiracy, the “Obama as Muslim Manchurian Candidate” canard. Obama was only ten years old when he left Indonesia; there is no known evidence of his having made an adult choice to practice Islam, and he is a professed Christian. The point is that he lies elaborately about himself and plainly doesn’t believe it’s important to be straight with the American people — to whom he is constantly making bold promises. And it makes a difference whether he was ever a Muslim. He knows that — it’s exactly why, as a candidate, he originally suggested his name and heritage would be a selling point. Obama’s religious background matters in terms of how he is perceived by Muslims (Islam rejects the notion of renouncing the faith; some Muslims, like Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi, make no bones about regarding Obama as a Muslim; and — as the mainstream media took pains not to report during the campaign — it is suspected that significant illegal donations poured into the Obama campaign from Islamic countries and territories). Obama’s religious background also matters in terms of how he views American policies bearing on the Muslim world.

WHEN DID INFORMATION SUDDENLY BECOME A BAD THING?

While it is all well and good to belittle the birth-certificate controversy, without it we’d know only what the media and Obama himself would tell us about his multiple citizenships, which is nothing. As noted above, we now know Obama, by operation of British and Kenyan law, was a citizen of Kenya (a status that lapsed in 1982, when he turned 21). That’s something voters would find relevant, especially when Obama’s shocking 2006 conduct in Kenya is considered. But we don’t know about his Kenyan citizenship because the media thought it was newsworthy. We know it only because of the birth-certificate controversy: Pressed to debunk the allegation that Obama was born in Kenya, his embarrassed supporters felt compelled to clarify his Kenyan citizenship.

By contrast, the question whether Obama ever was an Indonesian citizen is still unresolved, as are such related matters as whether the foreign citizenship (if he had it) ever lapsed, and whether he ever held or used an Indonesian passport — for example, during a mysterious trip to Pakistan he took in 1981, after Zia’s coup, when advisories warned Americans against traveling there. By the way, many details about that journey, too, remain unknown. Obama strangely neglected to mention it in his 850 pages of autobiography, even though the 20-year-old’s adventure included a stay at the home of prominent Pakistani politicians.

There may be perfectly benign answers to all of this. But the real question is: Why don’t the media — the watchdog legions who trekked to Sarah Palin’s Alaska hometown to scour for every kernel of gossip, and who were so desperate for Bush dirt that they ran with palpably forged military records — want to dig into Obama’s background?

Who cares that Hawaii’s full state records would doubtless confirm what we already know about Obama’s birthplace? They would also reveal interesting facts about Obama’s life: the delivering doctor, how his parents described themselves, which of them provided the pertinent information, etc. Wasn’t the press once in the business of interesting — and even not-so-interesting — news?

And why would Obama not welcome Hawaii’s release of any record in its possession about the facts and circumstances of his birth? Isn’t that kind of weird? It would, after all, make the whole issue go away and, if there’s nothing there, make those who’ve obsessed over it look like fools. Why should I need any better reason to be curious than Obama’s odd resistance to so obvious a resolution?

There’s speculation out there from the former CIA officer Larry Johnson — who is no right-winger and is convinced the president was born in Hawaii — that the full state records would probably show Obama was adopted by the Indonesian Muslim Lolo Soetoro and became formally known as “Barry Soetoro.” Obama may have wanted that suppressed for a host of reasons: issues about his citizenship, questions about his name (it’s been claimed that Obama represented in his application to the Illinois bar that he had never been known by any name other than Barack Obama), and the undermining of his (false) claim of remoteness from Islam. Is that true? I don’t know and neither do you.

But we should know. The point has little to do with whether Obama was born in Hawaii. I’m quite confident that he was. The issue is: What is the true personal history of the man who has been sold to us based on nothing but his personal history? On that issue, Obama has demonstrated himself to be an unreliable source and, sadly, we can’t trust the media to get to the bottom of it. What’s wrong with saying, to a president who promised unprecedented “transparency”: Give us all the raw data and we’ll figure it out for ourselves?

h/t: Andrew McCarthy, National Review Online

Thanks to Mike at threedonia.com

A Proper Town Hall!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Psalms 46:10

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Sunday Sermonette

They Shall Never Perish
July 26, 2009

"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." (John 10:28-29)

What rich blessings Christ promises to those who "hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (v. 27). To think that the omnipotent Creator knows us, and gives us eternal life! He is certainly powerful enough to see that this life is in no danger, either from our own weaknesses ("they shall never perish") or from the enemy without ("pluck them out"). Temporary eternal life simply cannot be. The eternal life which He gives lasts for eternity.

Actually, the promise "they shall never perish" is very strong in the original Greek. A repeating negative precedes the word "perish," and the specific form of the word "never" literally includes "eternally," or "forever." A more complete rendering would then be, "they shall not, in no wise perish, no, not for eternity."

The word "man" is not in the original, and the word "any" is more properly translated "any one" or "any being." This includes Satan--no match for the Savior. He is powerless to pluck or snatch us from either the Father's or the Son's hands. How could we be any more secure?

Note that the Father gave us to His beloved Son as gifts of His love. In turn, Christ values these precious gifts so much that He holds us securely in His hand, so tightly that no created being can snatch us away. The Father even assists in providing us this security, for we are also in the "Father's hand," and "I and my Father are one" (v. 30).

When we consider the size and strength of the Creator's hand, we can understand why no one, not even Satan, can snatch us out of its protective care.

h/t: J. D. Morris, Institute for Creation Research

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independance. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

h/t: Abraham Lincoln


Since Pres. Obama claims to be a student of Abraham Lincoln, he fails the test on this one, by our most beloved president Lincoln.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Well, They've gone and Done It!

Sunday Sermonette

Problems, Problems, Problems
July 19, 2009

"And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest." (Psalm 55:6)

The 55th Psalm is a psalm of "complaint" (v. 2) by David, and gives an insight into his thought process as he tried to deal with the great problems and burdens that were overwhelming him. His first instinct was to run away from them, flying like a dove far off into the wilderness.

The prophet Jonah (whose name means "dove") tried that strategy years later, only to encounter even worse problems (Jonah 1:3, 15). One does not solve problems by fleeing from them.

Then, David decided to berate those who were causing him trouble and to complain about them to the Lord. "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17). The words "pray, and cry aloud" here actually mean "complain and mourn." "Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues" (v. 9). "Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell" (v. 15). His burdens were all the heavier because those whom he had trusted as friends and colleagues were now using deceit and guile against him (vv. 11-14), and the injustice of it all was almost more than he could endure. But complaints and imprecations were also unsatisfying: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19).

Finally, the Lord gave him an answer, and David found the rest for which he had been so fretfully searching. Here it is: "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Psalm 55:22). The last phrase of the psalm is "but I will trust in thee" (v. 23).

The way to deal with burdens and problems is not to flee from them or to fret about them, but to turn them over to the Lord: "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7). HMM

h/t: Henry M. Morris, Institute for Creation Research

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Blasting the Socialist Agenda

My English paper blasting the socialist agenda of my school

This essay had some good points but I am seeing a theme, a pattern here at Green River Community College. My husband had to endure a film called “Affluenza” which tried to relate that capitalism is a baaaaaad thing and we ought to be ashamed of ourselves in America for having such a high standard of living. Now I read this essay which tries to take a “light hearted” look at consumerism. I do not understand why it seems that this college is so anxious to push socialism and communism as a viable economic system.

While it is true that our desire for more things has probably increased since World War II, I don’t see it as completely bad. Our economy is based on supply and demand, on capitalism and everyone in this country has an equal opportunity to participate in it – that does not mean that there will be equal results. One problem with business in America is that we do not teach it in most of our schools. The average high school student has no idea about how to start a business and run it. The average college student doesn’t fare much better. Is it any wonder that 70% of businesses go belly up within 10 years? We don’t teach our own economic system to our kids! We need to teach it to our kids so they will not be relegated to only working for someone else and so they can recognize when academialand attacks it with their socialist agenda.

Secondly, why is it portrayed as bad that the consumerism is creating a demand for jobs? I truly do not understand this at all. People need to work and earn money. I get really irritated with people who make “documentaries” in a Michael Moore fashion that lead the audience to assume that what they are being shown is true and oh so bad. For instance, when salaries are talked about in these mockumentaries, do we take into account the local economy? How about the cost of living? Usually not. Usually, we hear things like, “These poor people only make 10 cents a day”… Well, what does 10 cents translate to in their currency? What is their cost of living? We hear 10 cents and equate it to how we would live on 10 cents in our economy and immediately think, “Oh those poor people that we are exploiting for our pleasure.” Let’s get all the information before we start making those judgments.

I love listening to idiots who blast business as "BAD"... or rich people as "BAD"... uh, has a poor person ever given you a job??? My bet is no! It is a very simple formula: Businesses need to make a profit to stay in business and feed their families, they HIRE people to help them do that, they SELL things to people to make that profit, they PAY taxes and wages so that others can feed their families. It’s not rocket science!!! If the businesses don't sell their products or get taxed to death, they make no money to pay workers, workers lose their jobs, no one is paying taxes which fund other programs... it's just a big mess.

I agree that the author has some valid points, such as "Human beings love things," of course we do, that is why during the reign of the USSR, we Sailors could sell our Levis to them for about $500 a pair. However, the author’s not so subtle communistic themes were not lost on me. (Marx used is "insight"(???) to motivate the “HEROIC" (???) struggle against capitalism?? Are you kidding me??) Sorry but, whether you like it or not, COMMUNISM DOES NOT WORK!!! Just look at the former USSR, Cuba and what is happening in China now. The author can pooh-pooh all the evil Americans and their ability to buy stuff, but as history shows, the ability to buy things that we choose to buy is one aspect of a free and democratic society. When we all have to line up to be issued cheese or toilet paper (like they used to in the USSR), when we all have our professions chosen for us, when we have absolutely NO chance of making a better life for ourselves, we lose our ambition and our incentive to work and work hard/smart. And when that happens, people start to rise up as they did in Poland, East Germany, the various satellite countries of the USSR and eventually Russia itself. Cuba is even allowing some free enterprise and Chinese officials are already planning for their own security by siphoning off money into Swiss bank accounts for WHEN communism fails, not if it fails, when it fails.

I do think that a combination of bad legislation and out of control consumerism has led to our current economic situation. In 2004 when a certain party was trying to do something about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being out of control, Barnie Frank and his buddies are on video saying, “There is nothing wrong with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” Between people like the Sandlers, who sold bad mortgages to Wachovia and made a ton of money (legally-yes, ethically-hell no) and George Soros doing his bit to devalue the dollar, between the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act(CRA) signed by Jimmy Carter and the 1999 CRA section 6 signed into law by Bill Clinton which MADE banks meet quotas for high risk loans for mortgages to satisfy Democrats who asserted that everyone deserves a home, the seeds for this economic meltdown were sown by the Carter Administration, not the Reagan Administration as some would like to think. The quotas for the high risk loans, required by the Democrats, spawned the banks to do a little “creative financing” and so the Sub-prime adjustable rate mortgage was born. Predatory lending practices by banks trying to meet the CRA quota led to some sheeple just signing on the dotted line, not understanding what that ARM meant! Why in the world would ANYONE get a mortgage, that they can barely make now, that will readjust to a higher payment in 5 years???

I have also noticed a huge increase in the popularity of luxury items. I think this has been spurred on by wonderful shows like, “My Super Sweet 16” and the bombardment of images of the wretched lifestyles of the rich and morally corrupt famous for the last few years, I have noticed that people want to buy all this crap that "Paris" or some other no-talent famous nobody has, even if they don't have the money! Now every teenager and middle aged woman wants to be carrying $1500 Prada bags and two pair of $250 Dolce & Gabana sunglasses so they can be the star in their own reality show – or at least their fantasy of it. They get their $200 hair cuts at the trendy salon while their husband is out breaking his back working and the kids are outgrowing their clothes… Grandma and Grandpa were RIGHT! Save your money for the things you want and try not to get into debt. Oh but what do they know, they are old fashioned! Well, see where this has led us?

So here is a suggestion, how about we use the brain that God gave us to discern between our needs and wants... NOBODY NEEDS a pair of $250 Dolce and Gabana sunglasses –let alone two! or a $1500 Prada bag... If you have that kind of money and you WANT it, go ahead but for the rest of us, we need to use wisdom. Say "no" to your kids once in awhile - it won't kill them! Honest! Shoot – say no to yourself once in awhile! Discuss with your kids how empty a person is inside who just goes on mindless shopping sprees. Watch who they hang out with and what they watch on TV. Encourage them, and yourself, to develop character, integrity and creativity and they won't need to fill their lives with junk.

That is what needs to be criticized not our economic system.

h/t: Kerry Hooks

American Hero

A real American hero has died. After a long illness, WWII veteran Darrell “Shifty” Powers passed away 17 JUNE 2009.

You may remember “Shifty” from the portrayal of his adventures with Easy Company 2-506 PIR in the HBO series, “Band of Brothers”.

This is from the site BLACKFIVE.

This email has gone viral about Shifty:

We’re hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services.

I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell “Shifty” Powers.

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you’ve seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn’t know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the “Screaming Eagle”, the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he’d been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said “Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . ” at which point my heart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said “I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?” At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said “I also made a second jump into Holland, into Arnhem.” I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said “Yes. And it’s real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can’t make the trip.” My heart was in my throat and I didn’t know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I’d take his in coach.

He said “No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy.” His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.

No big event in Staples Center.

No wall to wall back to back 24×7 news coverage.

No weeping fans on television.

And that’s not right.

Let’s give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

“A nation without heroes is nothing.” – Roberto Clemente
Rest in Peace, Shifty you’ve earned it. If you stop by Fiddler’s Green I’m sure the Cav Troops there will hoist a cup or two with you.

AIRBORNE!

h/t: Outlaw13 on threedonia.com

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Constitution

The Federalist states on pages 295 & 296, Section 44, #2, written by Madison:

“This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The indiscreet zeal of the adversaries to the Constitution has betrayed them into an attack on this part of it also, without which it would have been evidently and radically defective. To be fully sensible of this, we need only suppose for a moment that the supremacy of the State constitutions had been left complete by a saving clause in their favor.

In the first place, as these constitutions invest the State legislatures with absolute sovereignty, in all cases not excepted by the existing articles of Confederation, all the authorities contained in the proposed Constitution, so far as they exceed those enumerated in the Confederation, would have been annulled, and the new Congress would have been reduced to the same impotent condition with their predecessors.

In the next place, as the constitutions of some of the States do not even expressly and fully recognize the existing powers of the Confederacy, an express saving of the supremacy of the former would, in such States, have brought into question every power contained in the proposed Constitution.

In the third place, as the constitutions of the States differ much from each other, it might happen that a treaty or national law, of great and equal importance to the States, would interfere with some and not with other constitutions, and would consequently be valid in some of the states, at the same time that it would have no effect in others.

In fine, the world would have seen, for the first time, a system of government founded on an inversion of the fundamental principles of all government; it would have seen the authority of the whole society everywhere subordinate to the authority of the parts; it would have seen a monster, in which the head was under the direction of the members.”