"Have God's Kind of faith"
"Have the Faith of God"
"You Will Have What You Say"
The Bible is very clear about all that we have in Christ:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1: 3-6)
We receive everything through Jesus Christ:
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 31-32)
The issue is not asking for something, but know Him who has everything, and that He is everything in us:
"Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints," (Ephesians 1: 16-18)
We also have His faith, the faith of God, God's kind of faith in Jesus:
"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)
This faith is the gift of God, not something that we work up through our own effort:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 8-10)
Now, the three previous statements at the top of this post refer oftentimes to Mark 11: 22
"And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God." (Mark 11: 22)
A better translation brings out more:
"And Jesus answering saith to them, 'Have faith of God;" (Youngs Literal)
The issue is not about what you do, or what you have, but that you have His faith.
This truth about faith, God's faith, is confirmed in two chapters prior in the same Gospel. Following His Transfiguration, Jesus sees the multitudes arguing about something with the scribes. One of the men comes forth, and shares:
"And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? 17And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not." (Mark 9: 16-18)
The man with the demon-possessed child was hoping that one of the disciples could cast out the evil spirit, as if the power resided in the disciple. Jesus responded:
"He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me." (Mark 11: 19)
Why was "this generation" faithless? They were under law, still abiding by the servant Moses, still trusting to their ethnic status or their own efforts instead of walking by faith in the Grace of God, who is presented and personified in Christ Jesus! In every situation,. we should not look to ourselves for help, even to "our faith", but rather to Jesus.
The distraught father in Mark 9 was arguing with scribes, tried to seek help from the disciples, and despite these acts of unbelief, Jesus still called to him to bring his demon-possessed child to him.
Jesus shows His compassion for us, even when we struggle to come to Him, still trying in our own efforts to solve our problems, to overcome enemies in our lives.
"And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 21And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us." (Mark 11: 20-22)
When we are so pressed to run our problems by other people, let us start be trusting that we can share our struggles with Jesus, that He will understand, and do much more than we can ask or think. This father did not know if Jesus could do anything, but he asked. Jesus responded.
"23Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9: 23)
This verse has been misconstrued at length in the King James version. The New International Version brings out the fullness:
""'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes." The faith in question, the believing in question is not in the father, but in the Son! All things are possible to Him, who believes! Remember, we live by His faith, not our own.
Youngs Literal Translation is more forthcoming:
"And Jesus said to him, 'If thou art able to believe! all things are possible to the one that is believing;'
Jesus' faith is active, ongoing, never-ending.
The Father than cries out:
24And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9: 24)
New International version:
"Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!""
And Youngs
"and immediately the father of the child, having cried out, with tears said, 'I believe, sir; be helping mine unbelief.'
The issue is not about "our faith", but believing in Jesus, and letting His faith carry us through all things.
We have God's kind of faith because Jesus lives in us, and He gives us beyong what we can ask or think Ephesians 3: 20)
The matter of faith is not about what you say, or how much you say it, but who you believe, who you trust in, and how great is your understanding of Himself, and His faith in you.
For this reason, Peter prayed:
"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Peter 3: 18)
And we grow in this grace to the degree that we know Jesus more:
"2Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:" (2 Peter 1: 2-3)
In fact, before Jesus ministered to the father of the demon-possessed child, and before Jesus cursed the fig tree and cleaned out the temple (Mark 11), Jesus was transfigured in His fullness before Peter, James, and John:
"2And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. 4And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. 5And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 6For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. 7And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. 8And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves." (Mark 9: 2-8)
Jesus clothing was whiter than any fuller (any soap) could make. This brightness speaks of the perfect righteousness that we receive in Christ. The work is done, there is nothing more that we have to do in order to be clean. We are made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 21). Jesus is greater than the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah), for both of them testify of Jesus. Instead of trying to be obedient in our own efforts or waiting for our peace and prosperity to come, we see all things completed in Jesus.
The same Jesus who is glorified above all things, the same Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father, ministering on our behalf, this same Jesus stoops down to comfort us in our times of need:
"7And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only." (Matthew 17: 7-8)
See Jesus, and faith will be unstoppable, because you believe on Him, the only work (John 6: 29)
Don't worry about what to say, do not worry about having "God's kind of faith", but grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, who lives in you, who believes in you (literally), and through Himself makes all things come to pass in your life.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Walker and Youth Issues
The Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel has highlighted one youthful indiscretion which Governor Walker seems to have engaged in, while the Huffington Post, by far a more liberal mouthpiece, has promoted in a dismissive fashion Governor Walker’s efforts on behalf of another youthful constituency: the unborn.
Regarding the “youthful discretion”, the fault lies not with the Governor himself, but rather with an initial regent appointment nominee, Joshua Inglett, who was set to join the University of Wisconsin System's Board of Regents. After a few questions about his past and his present bearings on the future appointment, one of the office staff who was vetting questions asked the young nominee’s stance regarding the governor’s recall. Inglett left not one inkling of doubt: he did sign the petition to recall Governor Walker.
Walker has walked away from nominating the youthful Joshua, most likely because a Governor, as any executive, wants to select individuals who support him professionally as well as politically. There is nothing either partisan or perverse about the Governor’s staff choosing to rescind their support for Mr. Inglett.
As for the unborn, the Wisconsin State Assembly has just passed a bill which would require pregnant women to receive ultrasound treatment before undergoing an abortion. Following the horrendous excesses and deplorable health conditions from the clinic operated by the heinously unscrupulous Kermit Gosnell in the Philadelphia ghettoes, the Huffington Post should applaud, not upbraid Walker for taking steps to ensure that every child conceived has the fullest opportunity to live freely and thrive.
Regarding the “youthful discretion”, the fault lies not with the Governor himself, but rather with an initial regent appointment nominee, Joshua Inglett, who was set to join the University of Wisconsin System's Board of Regents. After a few questions about his past and his present bearings on the future appointment, one of the office staff who was vetting questions asked the young nominee’s stance regarding the governor’s recall. Inglett left not one inkling of doubt: he did sign the petition to recall Governor Walker.
Walker has walked away from nominating the youthful Joshua, most likely because a Governor, as any executive, wants to select individuals who support him professionally as well as politically. There is nothing either partisan or perverse about the Governor’s staff choosing to rescind their support for Mr. Inglett.
As for the unborn, the Wisconsin State Assembly has just passed a bill which would require pregnant women to receive ultrasound treatment before undergoing an abortion. Following the horrendous excesses and deplorable health conditions from the clinic operated by the heinously unscrupulous Kermit Gosnell in the Philadelphia ghettoes, the Huffington Post should applaud, not upbraid Walker for taking steps to ensure that every child conceived has the fullest opportunity to live freely and thrive.
Where Do You Stay, Markey? (Medford, Malden, or Maryland?)
With the 2013 US Senate primaries ended in Massachusetts, the residents of the Bay State have their choices to replace out-going (hardly outgoing( US Senator John Kerry: Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset, or Congressman Edward Markey of Medford, or is it Malden, or is it Maryland (Chevy Chase, to be precise, and this is no National Lampoon, either). Frankly, the first question Massachusetts residents aks has to do with his primary residence. In other words: "Where does Markey make his mark?" On the street, they would say: "Where do you stay, Markey?"
Supposedly, he resides in Medford. How have things been in the part of the Commonwealth since Markey came to power in 1976? The Somerville's Irish Winter Hill Gang, part of the massive Irish Mob, took down one of their rivals in Medford. In 1980, a couple of crooked cops made off with one of the biggest jewel heists in history from the Depositors Trust bank. With such a legacy of crime, Medford voters should give James "Whitey Bulger" a shot at the Senate Seat. He's a crook, but at least an honest one (honest about being a gangster, that is). Amelia Earhart, who got lost lying over the Atlantic some eighty years ago, used to live in Medford, too. (Another thing that Amelia and Markey have in common: no once can find them!)
And then there's Malden. "Yeah, Congressman Ed Markey. He's from Malden!" any passerby might quip. Yet very few residents in the city have ever (evah!) seen him. In 2010, as the Republican Party faced a rising opportunity of taking back Congress (they won the House of representatives, plus six senate seats), Republican challenger Dr. Gerry Dembrowski searched for Markey up and down Townsend Street (The long-time Congressman supposedly leaves at #7), yet still no has ever seen him. During Mr. Dembrowski's 2010 venture to find the missing Congressman, one resident candidly remarked that "Markey does not live here anymore." Yikes! Another resident, down the street, had no idea that he (supposedly) lived down the street. A third person shared that she had not seen him in years. After thirty-six years, one would think that people would know about Edward "Why the Long Face" Markey. One would assume that a representative would not be ashamed to "represent his peeps". Undocumented immigrants is one thing, but an undocumented Congressman, well, that's just wicked! (but not in a good way. . .)
Then there's Chevy Chase, Maryland. It looks like we have a winner.
Markey has been a Washington insider since before he was an outsider. Some say he was busy doing backroom deals even while scooping chocolate and vanilla as an ice cream truck driver in Malden (or Medford). From the beginning, Markey has been dishing out dessert to liberal denizens, yet at least the ice cream gig was legit, and people always knew where to find him and when he was coming (the ice cream man never stops ringing, unlike the mailman.)
Markey's record is boilerplate (ore frozen in place) liberal-progressive (Vanilla, yet plainer, and forget about the waffle cone). He has voted time and again to raise the debt ceiling with abandon. He voted against curbing Washington lobbyists. He has voted against every tax cut one can think of (marriage penalty, anyone?) Death and taxes are two certain things, and with Markey every voter could expect to be taxed for dying, too. People pay more for their cable. Anything sweet for the Congressman has soured on his constituents, and still no one is the wiser as to his whereabouts
Then there's Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade. For the record, Markey pushed crappy "Cap and Trade" with his fellow climate-change comrade Henry Waxman (D-California), a bill larded with pork-pollution. The original bill, all nine hundred and some pages of it, was just not enough, so Waxman pushed a three-hundred page amendment into the Hopper at the last minute. For all that Massachusetts voters may dislike about Republicans and their Speaker John Boehner, as minority leader he took a majority leap to expose the bureaucracies and high costs.
For the record, Cap and Trade is a mean, green Ponzi Scheme which "History of Stuff" Environmental activist Annie Leonard debunked, along with many level-headed scientists, plus a score of conservatives. Europe's carbon credits experiment with Cap and Trade failed around, while pollution increased, along with fuel costs. Only trade gets capped with "Cap and Trade", enough that US Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) pledged to shoot a bullet (or rather "bust a cap") through the Cap and Trade Bill. How-evah, Markey still pleads that the "Climate Change" cliff is far worse than the "Fiscal Cliff" . Then again, 30,000 and scientists, including a thousand PhDs (not all from the University of Chicago or Stanford University) have disputed that "climate change" is a catastrophic threat which must be averted, or life as we know it will end.
So, "Where do you stay, Markey?" Maryland is his real home. Yet if voters have their future mapped out for the better, they will make sure Mareky stays in Malden (or Medford) for good.
Supposedly, he resides in Medford. How have things been in the part of the Commonwealth since Markey came to power in 1976? The Somerville's Irish Winter Hill Gang, part of the massive Irish Mob, took down one of their rivals in Medford. In 1980, a couple of crooked cops made off with one of the biggest jewel heists in history from the Depositors Trust bank. With such a legacy of crime, Medford voters should give James "Whitey Bulger" a shot at the Senate Seat. He's a crook, but at least an honest one (honest about being a gangster, that is). Amelia Earhart, who got lost lying over the Atlantic some eighty years ago, used to live in Medford, too. (Another thing that Amelia and Markey have in common: no once can find them!)
And then there's Malden. "Yeah, Congressman Ed Markey. He's from Malden!" any passerby might quip. Yet very few residents in the city have ever (evah!) seen him. In 2010, as the Republican Party faced a rising opportunity of taking back Congress (they won the House of representatives, plus six senate seats), Republican challenger Dr. Gerry Dembrowski searched for Markey up and down Townsend Street (The long-time Congressman supposedly leaves at #7), yet still no has ever seen him. During Mr. Dembrowski's 2010 venture to find the missing Congressman, one resident candidly remarked that "Markey does not live here anymore." Yikes! Another resident, down the street, had no idea that he (supposedly) lived down the street. A third person shared that she had not seen him in years. After thirty-six years, one would think that people would know about Edward "Why the Long Face" Markey. One would assume that a representative would not be ashamed to "represent his peeps". Undocumented immigrants is one thing, but an undocumented Congressman, well, that's just wicked! (but not in a good way. . .)
Then there's Chevy Chase, Maryland. It looks like we have a winner.
Markey has been a Washington insider since before he was an outsider. Some say he was busy doing backroom deals even while scooping chocolate and vanilla as an ice cream truck driver in Malden (or Medford). From the beginning, Markey has been dishing out dessert to liberal denizens, yet at least the ice cream gig was legit, and people always knew where to find him and when he was coming (the ice cream man never stops ringing, unlike the mailman.)
Markey's record is boilerplate (ore frozen in place) liberal-progressive (Vanilla, yet plainer, and forget about the waffle cone). He has voted time and again to raise the debt ceiling with abandon. He voted against curbing Washington lobbyists. He has voted against every tax cut one can think of (marriage penalty, anyone?) Death and taxes are two certain things, and with Markey every voter could expect to be taxed for dying, too. People pay more for their cable. Anything sweet for the Congressman has soured on his constituents, and still no one is the wiser as to his whereabouts
Then there's Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade. For the record, Markey pushed crappy "Cap and Trade" with his fellow climate-change comrade Henry Waxman (D-California), a bill larded with pork-pollution. The original bill, all nine hundred and some pages of it, was just not enough, so Waxman pushed a three-hundred page amendment into the Hopper at the last minute. For all that Massachusetts voters may dislike about Republicans and their Speaker John Boehner, as minority leader he took a majority leap to expose the bureaucracies and high costs.
For the record, Cap and Trade is a mean, green Ponzi Scheme which "History of Stuff" Environmental activist Annie Leonard debunked, along with many level-headed scientists, plus a score of conservatives. Europe's carbon credits experiment with Cap and Trade failed around, while pollution increased, along with fuel costs. Only trade gets capped with "Cap and Trade", enough that US Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) pledged to shoot a bullet (or rather "bust a cap") through the Cap and Trade Bill. How-evah, Markey still pleads that the "Climate Change" cliff is far worse than the "Fiscal Cliff" . Then again, 30,000 and scientists, including a thousand PhDs (not all from the University of Chicago or Stanford University) have disputed that "climate change" is a catastrophic threat which must be averted, or life as we know it will end.
So, "Where do you stay, Markey?" Maryland is his real home. Yet if voters have their future mapped out for the better, they will make sure Mareky stays in Malden (or Medford) for good.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Lincoln Chafee - Faux Republican, Nouveau Democrat, Same Ol Same Ol
Lincoln Chafee, one of the most ineffectual Governors in one of the most impoverished states in the Union, is also one of the most unpopular. With a 26% approval rating, Chafee is chafing for reelection and faces dwindling chances of doing so. Democrats Mayor Angel Taveras of Providence and General Treasurer Gina Raimondo have stronger chances of taking the gubernatorial seat in 2014, yet the former Republican turned Independent has turned again, this time joining the Democratic Party to shore up his receding chances. Chafee's long-drawn self-justifying manifesto for party-switching (again) on Go Local Prov had nothing of Former US Senator from Vermont Jim (R-VT) Jeffords' partisan integrity when he left the GOP in 2001, or former US Senator Joe Lieberman's (D-CT) calculation following his loss for the Democratic nomination in 2006. Chafee's change is partisan chameleon chicanery, both at its best and at its worst. At its best, one can only nod that this politician, like any other, would go out of his way to improve his chances of reelection. At its worst, where does one stop?
To think that Linc's father John named him after the first Republican President, "Honest" Abraham Lincoln, should be enough for Republicans, both in Rhode Island and throughout the nation, to count their blessings that he left. To quote Horace Greeley on the eve of the Civil War: "Letting erring sisters depart in peace."
There was nothing honest nor integrated about Chafee's declaration of transition.
"Like most Republicans of that era, I supported a more modest approach to government spending, and doing more with less. Like most Democrats, I also believed in a safety net, and helping people make the most of their lives, with affordable health care, good schools, and decent wages."
The same dilemma which Chafee attempts to justify is the same partisan split which has rendered Washington "dysfunctional." People want their entitlements, yet they feel entitled not pay for them. They want "Big Government", just not so big that it steps on their toes, or costs them more money. This political double-take has taken its toll on the taxpayers, the workers, the industrious who today refuse to keep pushing the cart while more jump in to enjoy the "free ride." "Modest government" and "safety net" is an immodest juxtaposition, as if more government can keep any of us safe and secure. Chafee's "Have your cake and eat it too" flourishes make about as much as sense as "We must suspend the rules of the free market to save it."
"I felt that I was exactly where I wanted to be – proud of my moderate Republican roots, but attuned to the needs of my lunchpail Democratic constituents. I also thought it worked in Rhode Island, nearly a one-party state, to have a few principled Republicans here and there, keeping an eye on the till."
Chafee is as principled as a three-dollar bill. "Lunchpail" Democrats have become "welfare recipients" under Chafee. Instead of respecting working Rhode Islanders, his policies have worked against them, from taxing beverages, oceanside visits, and maintaining the outrageous "blue book price" car tax. No wonder Met Life moved South: it no longer pays to stay in Rhode Island.
I had not changed – but my party had. Like my father before me, I occupied what was once a crowded branch of the GOP – New Englanders who were dedicated to fiscal responsibility.
Chafee was never a Republican. During his "adopted" tenure in the US Senate, he voted more times against the Bush Administration than US Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York). Following a bitter primary in 2006, he ran against Bush, yet lost to Sheldon Whitehouse. While "Father John" was a moderate, supporting welfare reform while also protecting the trees, Lincoln Chafee endorsed every liberal platform: opposing the War in Iraq, to voting against tax cuts (not to stop the spending spree, but because he was a regressive-progressive at heart). He opposes charter schools, he supports unions, and he cares more about the physical environment than the political or economic climate, as clearly evident by his four-year failure to end the debt and deficit tsunami swallowing the Ocean State.
Yet for all his heartfelt protestations, what matters to Chafee is not who stays in the state, but that he stays in office. Potholes abound in Providence, Woonsocket is going bankrupt, and Central Falls has already entered into the same financial protection. How many more cities will have to fold, how many more residents will have to flee before those who depend and those who want to upend the current political crises acknowledge that Lincoln Chafee's socialized government cannot run without other people's money, and those "other people" are leaving the state in droves! If Chafee the nouveau Democrat does manage to beat Taveras and Raimondo in the Democratic primary, then God Help Rhode Island. Then again, a civic culture bent on sending back to the statehouse the same people who have put the state in the poorhouse may be just what it takes for those "down and out" to stop staying down and get up and out of their circumstances.
To think that Linc's father John named him after the first Republican President, "Honest" Abraham Lincoln, should be enough for Republicans, both in Rhode Island and throughout the nation, to count their blessings that he left. To quote Horace Greeley on the eve of the Civil War: "Letting erring sisters depart in peace."
There was nothing honest nor integrated about Chafee's declaration of transition.
"Like most Republicans of that era, I supported a more modest approach to government spending, and doing more with less. Like most Democrats, I also believed in a safety net, and helping people make the most of their lives, with affordable health care, good schools, and decent wages."
The same dilemma which Chafee attempts to justify is the same partisan split which has rendered Washington "dysfunctional." People want their entitlements, yet they feel entitled not pay for them. They want "Big Government", just not so big that it steps on their toes, or costs them more money. This political double-take has taken its toll on the taxpayers, the workers, the industrious who today refuse to keep pushing the cart while more jump in to enjoy the "free ride." "Modest government" and "safety net" is an immodest juxtaposition, as if more government can keep any of us safe and secure. Chafee's "Have your cake and eat it too" flourishes make about as much as sense as "We must suspend the rules of the free market to save it."
"I felt that I was exactly where I wanted to be – proud of my moderate Republican roots, but attuned to the needs of my lunchpail Democratic constituents. I also thought it worked in Rhode Island, nearly a one-party state, to have a few principled Republicans here and there, keeping an eye on the till."
Chafee is as principled as a three-dollar bill. "Lunchpail" Democrats have become "welfare recipients" under Chafee. Instead of respecting working Rhode Islanders, his policies have worked against them, from taxing beverages, oceanside visits, and maintaining the outrageous "blue book price" car tax. No wonder Met Life moved South: it no longer pays to stay in Rhode Island.
I had not changed – but my party had. Like my father before me, I occupied what was once a crowded branch of the GOP – New Englanders who were dedicated to fiscal responsibility.
Chafee was never a Republican. During his "adopted" tenure in the US Senate, he voted more times against the Bush Administration than US Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York). Following a bitter primary in 2006, he ran against Bush, yet lost to Sheldon Whitehouse. While "Father John" was a moderate, supporting welfare reform while also protecting the trees, Lincoln Chafee endorsed every liberal platform: opposing the War in Iraq, to voting against tax cuts (not to stop the spending spree, but because he was a regressive-progressive at heart). He opposes charter schools, he supports unions, and he cares more about the physical environment than the political or economic climate, as clearly evident by his four-year failure to end the debt and deficit tsunami swallowing the Ocean State.
Yet for all his heartfelt protestations, what matters to Chafee is not who stays in the state, but that he stays in office. Potholes abound in Providence, Woonsocket is going bankrupt, and Central Falls has already entered into the same financial protection. How many more cities will have to fold, how many more residents will have to flee before those who depend and those who want to upend the current political crises acknowledge that Lincoln Chafee's socialized government cannot run without other people's money, and those "other people" are leaving the state in droves! If Chafee the nouveau Democrat does manage to beat Taveras and Raimondo in the Democratic primary, then God Help Rhode Island. Then again, a civic culture bent on sending back to the statehouse the same people who have put the state in the poorhouse may be just what it takes for those "down and out" to stop staying down and get up and out of their circumstances.
God, Climate, and Sheldon Whitehouse
US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse won reelection by 70% in Rhode Island, even though his state is in the poor house, with 17% on food stamps, with teen pregnancy on the rise, with the city of Providence looking less providential every day. 111 Westminster has lost its last tenant, and the Superman Building is still looking for a Superman to save the building, the city, and the state. Roger Williams has a statue to his memory, but his life and legacy have become a distant memory for current citizens, many of whom lament the lack of jobs and commerce, yet elect the same political machine politicians who serve the unions, not the state, who enable dependence, not prosperity.
For all intensive purposes, God has no place in Rhode Island anymore, and for that reason, people are looking to the state for the answers, for the support, for the way out of the mess.
Following his easy reelection, Whitehouse joined forces with liberal progressive Henry Waxman (D-California) to form the "climate change caucus". He wants to protect Rhode Islanders, and the rest of the country, from the dangers posed by greenhouse gases, which are threatening the earth, melting the polar ice caps, creating heinous and unprecedented weather patterns, and thus should be blamed for all the ills afflicting Rhode Island and the rest of the United States. Whitehouse's new agenda is fighting "climate change", although in decades past, the problems facing the earth because of environmental concerns were initially termed "ozone depletion", then "global warming." Indeed, the world has been getting more heated the past few years, but climatologists have also posited that an expansive cooling stage had covered the earth in the 1800's, and previous dire threats of overpopulate and nutrition depletion have fallen away as empty rhetoric.
Someone needs to put Whitehouse in the "Out House" for his push to curb climate change will do nothing to stop the economic malaise or the political miasma which is sinking his state, and all other Democratic states, into fiscal insolvency and stagnation.
"Climate Change" is predominantly a Democratic cause, and Republicans in the House have dismissed any concerns about environmental catastrophes. Most legislators refer to the Bible, in which they purpose that the Creator has more control over His Creation than any concerning senator or House Rep can undo. On the floor of the US Senate, Whitehouse rebuked the "easy-believism" of Republicans who quoted the Scriptures, and he ridiculed their claims that the earth is not going anywhere, that environmental concerns are not going to harm us as greatly as environmental alarmists claim.
Whitehouse rebutted with the following: "God is not going to save us from climate change."
Like Ed Markey (D-Malden, Massachusetts, or Chevy Chase, Maryland) and Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles, California), Senator Whitehouse is concerned more about the "climate cliff" which threatens to endanger not just our country, but the entire world. Back to Senator Whitehouse. So, he thinks that God is not going to protect us from climate change. . .Then who does he think he is proposing that the federal government, or any human agency, can do something about the climate?! When will Senator Whitehouse stop raving about the "Greenhouse" and do something about the "Poorhouse" which has become Rhode Island and Providence Plantations?
Of course, the folly of progressivism, as evidenced clearly in Whitehouse, Waxman and Markey has tried to control the climate before. Waxman-Markey tired to push a federal "Cap and Trade" Bill in 2009, which would have taxed future carbon emissions. From liberal activist Annie Leonard to conservative columnist George Will, Cap and Trade has been debunked as a Wall Street Ponzi scheme, a "carbon credit" market which would benefit the few at the expense of the rest. Fuel prices soared, along with pollution when Europeans states enacted Cap and Trade. The whole scam enriched the rich while impoverishing the poor all the more. Even voters in liberal Massachusetts have disdained the notion that the government should be regulating who can emit how much carbon. People breathe out CO2 as part of respiration. Does Senator Whitehouse and his climate change comrades want to tax every American for breathing? Then again, such a notion may be too good to pass up for a progressive. Besides, Waxman and Markey have voted against tax cuts for middle and working class voters before. Of course they would support a tax on carbon emissions; of course they would support any policy that would bankrupt small businesses and drive large corporations out of the country.
Senator Whitehouse's state is in the poor house, with potholes abounding, businesses fleeing, schools failing, and residents barely surviving. Not the green in nature, but the lack of green in citizens' wallets deserves his attention. Perhaps he should starting praying to God instead of marginalizing Him. Senator Whitehouse claims that "God cannot stop climate change"? What business does he have representing a state whose capital is "Providence", whose motto is "Hope", and whose founder was an Evangelical Christian who recognized the supremacy of God, Christ, and The Divine Order over all things?
For all intensive purposes, God has no place in Rhode Island anymore, and for that reason, people are looking to the state for the answers, for the support, for the way out of the mess.
Following his easy reelection, Whitehouse joined forces with liberal progressive Henry Waxman (D-California) to form the "climate change caucus". He wants to protect Rhode Islanders, and the rest of the country, from the dangers posed by greenhouse gases, which are threatening the earth, melting the polar ice caps, creating heinous and unprecedented weather patterns, and thus should be blamed for all the ills afflicting Rhode Island and the rest of the United States. Whitehouse's new agenda is fighting "climate change", although in decades past, the problems facing the earth because of environmental concerns were initially termed "ozone depletion", then "global warming." Indeed, the world has been getting more heated the past few years, but climatologists have also posited that an expansive cooling stage had covered the earth in the 1800's, and previous dire threats of overpopulate and nutrition depletion have fallen away as empty rhetoric.
Someone needs to put Whitehouse in the "Out House" for his push to curb climate change will do nothing to stop the economic malaise or the political miasma which is sinking his state, and all other Democratic states, into fiscal insolvency and stagnation.
"Climate Change" is predominantly a Democratic cause, and Republicans in the House have dismissed any concerns about environmental catastrophes. Most legislators refer to the Bible, in which they purpose that the Creator has more control over His Creation than any concerning senator or House Rep can undo. On the floor of the US Senate, Whitehouse rebuked the "easy-believism" of Republicans who quoted the Scriptures, and he ridiculed their claims that the earth is not going anywhere, that environmental concerns are not going to harm us as greatly as environmental alarmists claim.
Whitehouse rebutted with the following: "God is not going to save us from climate change."
Like Ed Markey (D-Malden, Massachusetts, or Chevy Chase, Maryland) and Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles, California), Senator Whitehouse is concerned more about the "climate cliff" which threatens to endanger not just our country, but the entire world. Back to Senator Whitehouse. So, he thinks that God is not going to protect us from climate change. . .Then who does he think he is proposing that the federal government, or any human agency, can do something about the climate?! When will Senator Whitehouse stop raving about the "Greenhouse" and do something about the "Poorhouse" which has become Rhode Island and Providence Plantations?
Of course, the folly of progressivism, as evidenced clearly in Whitehouse, Waxman and Markey has tried to control the climate before. Waxman-Markey tired to push a federal "Cap and Trade" Bill in 2009, which would have taxed future carbon emissions. From liberal activist Annie Leonard to conservative columnist George Will, Cap and Trade has been debunked as a Wall Street Ponzi scheme, a "carbon credit" market which would benefit the few at the expense of the rest. Fuel prices soared, along with pollution when Europeans states enacted Cap and Trade. The whole scam enriched the rich while impoverishing the poor all the more. Even voters in liberal Massachusetts have disdained the notion that the government should be regulating who can emit how much carbon. People breathe out CO2 as part of respiration. Does Senator Whitehouse and his climate change comrades want to tax every American for breathing? Then again, such a notion may be too good to pass up for a progressive. Besides, Waxman and Markey have voted against tax cuts for middle and working class voters before. Of course they would support a tax on carbon emissions; of course they would support any policy that would bankrupt small businesses and drive large corporations out of the country.
Senator Whitehouse's state is in the poor house, with potholes abounding, businesses fleeing, schools failing, and residents barely surviving. Not the green in nature, but the lack of green in citizens' wallets deserves his attention. Perhaps he should starting praying to God instead of marginalizing Him. Senator Whitehouse claims that "God cannot stop climate change"? What business does he have representing a state whose capital is "Providence", whose motto is "Hope", and whose founder was an Evangelical Christian who recognized the supremacy of God, Christ, and The Divine Order over all things?
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Ho-Hum in Massachussets: Markey vs. Gomez
2013 seems like 2010 again in Massachusetts, where Bay State residents will endure another special election. In 2010, Bay State voters replaced the lionizing liberal Ted Kennedy, whose untimely demise for Old Mass was a Big Win for the GOP and the rest of the country, permitted a lone, with an unknown state senator from Wrentham, Scott Brown, who roared up from behind by double-digits to taking the "People's Seat" by five points, beating out a long-established liberal Attorney Martha Coakley, who could not ride the coat-tails of the flagging President Obama nor his unpopular ObamaCare health insurance mandate.
Now 2013, yet not six months prior, the junior-made-senior US Senator John Kerry receives the nod for Secretary of State, replacing the unabashed yet embarrassed Hillary Clinton, with Benghazi on her back, stilling looking "Forward!" to a 2016 Presidential run.
With Kerry carried away by the diplomacy brigade, another US Senate seat lies vacant in Massachusetts. Scott Brown lost his reelection bid to Elizabeth "Faux-cahontas" Warren by the same margin which had earned him the state just two years before. He would have been better represented, without a national anchor -- Romney -- dragging his chances in another special election for Kerry's seat. Most likely concerned about the wear and tear on his family, along with the campaign fatigue of running a third state-wide run in three years, with a fourth in his future should he win again, Brown stepped down from politicking for the time being. Rumors suggest not so much a gubernatorial bid to replace Deval Patrick, but a carpetbagger-turn in "Granite State" New Hampshire against former US House Rep and Governor Jean Shaheen.
With Brown out, Massachusetts Republicans scrambled for another Republican to run for Kerry's seat. "Openly gay" real estate agent and former state senator Richard Tisei ran a strong yet losing campaign for the Sixth Congressional District against John "My Wife's the Gambling Criminal" Tierney, yet the incumbent squeaked into reelection by one percentage point. Finally, three GOP contenders emerged: Gabriel Gomez, a private financier and former Navy Seal, squared off against Michael Sullivan and Daniel Winslow. Despite the political name recognition and newspaper endorsements for Sullivan, Colombian-American Gabriel Gomez won the primary for the GOP nomination.
The Democrats had two strong contenders in their primary, both House Reps with a representation for liberalism unchecked: John Lynch of South Boston, and Edward Markey Malden, by way of Chevy Chase, Maryland. After more than three decades of a middling record of tax increases, influence peddling, and Cap and Trade carping with fellow climate-change comrade Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles/South Bay), Markey won the US Senate primary. The blogs and the comments went fast and furious (not to be confused with the gun-running scandal along the US-Mexico border, of course). Democrats who had supported Lynch would not budge an inch for Ed "Malarkey, Marx-ey, Crypt-Keeper" Markey.
Gomez is photogenic, youthful, a soldier, and has no prior dabbling in politics and governance, ( or "anti-Markey", to be brief) which in Massachusetts may be the winning element. Then again, a politician who cannot pride himself on anything but his mansion in the Washington D.C. suburbs has gotten reelected time and again in his Malden-Medford constituency, and the Bay State, with its 11% Republican registration, will prove difficult for anyone moderate or moderately conservative, even a "New Republican" like Gomez, to capture the proverbial "lightning in the bottle" as Wrentham state senator Brown had done three years before.
Right away, polls announced Markey at 44% with Gomez at 40%. Even in liberal Massachusetts, Markey is an out-of-touch elitist (a redundancy to the rest of us, but a tautology still lost on Bostonians). Gomez has his ethnic background, a plus for Republicans since the party still insists that they lost the "Brown Vote" (in reality, it was the "Non White Vote," i.e. the White Vote did not vote). Markey and Gomez have been slinging mud ever since. With the Obama administration sinking under scores of scandals (AP, EPA, IRS, Benghazi, OMG!), with ObamaCare wreaking havoc on businesses, including medical device companies in Massachusetts, Markey has much munching against him. He opposed the tax, though, yet voted for it all the same (much like predecessor Kerry and authorization for the Iraq War).
Gomez, pro "Gay Marriage" yet "Pro Life", claims to be a "different" Republican. Critics see a darker version of Mitt Romney, because he earned lots of money (Markey drove an ice cream truck, then entered politics). After two nasty unsubstantial debates, filled with "taking points" per Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby, Markey still has missed the mark, but Gomez is not going as strong, either. A debilitated and disillusioned electorate signals a wider win for the Malden-Maryland middling politician.
According to MSNBC's Chuck Todd, Markey-Gomez is like the ho-hum LA mayoral race (Garcetti won, I think). With a low voter turnout, Markey will win, so Gomez must fire against the Democratic Machine. Perhaps voter apathy will signal that voters have stopped looking to Washington for answers. Markey in the US Senate may end a viable Massachusetts GOP comeback (But do the voters care?)
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
See Jesus and No Longer Strive to Grow in Grace
When a child goes to get a shot, the parents are understandably worried, and the medical personnel who administer the shot must take precautions to deliver the shot in such a way so that the child does not become afraid or frustrate the administration of the medicine.
Most doctors will give the child a toy or engage in some kind of small talk to get the child's mind to focus on something else besides the shot. Sometimes, the parents will tell their child to take a big, deep breath, hold it all in, and then as soon as the need breaks the skin of the child's arm, the child should start letting out all the air.
In a similar fashion, Christians will face hardships in their walk as they grow in grace, allowing Jesus Christ to permeate more aspects of their lives. For many conscientious believers, those who find that they are struggling with an unclean habit or a frame of mind which distracts or distorts their understanding or their peace, often they need to know that they are not responsible for making the changes in their life, but rather the Spirit of God which lives in every believer.
"Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4: 6)
How does the Spirit of God operate within us? Paul writes in a numbe of passages throughout the New Testament Epistles how His working within us brings Christ into us, to live and thrive and move and have His being in every child of God:
"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Romans 8: 15)
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15: 10)
Then check out:
"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)
Also
"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1: 27) followed by "Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. (Colossians 1: 29)
Also
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1: 6)
How about this?
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 10)
Instead of looking at ourselves, the Holy Spirit invites us to believe on Him whom the Father has sent (John 6: 29)
We do not change ourselves, but rather we allow the Spirit of God to transform us:
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3: 18)
We are sons of God because of Jesus, the Son of God, who gave Himself for us (1 John 3: 1)
We are going to be like Him, and we will see Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13: 12), yet as we renew our minds to who we are in Christ (Romans 12: 2), then His love is perfected among us (1 John 4: 17).
Do not strain through your own efforts. Grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord as you behold Jesus in the Scriptures, and you will be transformed from glory to glory, from faith to faith.
Most doctors will give the child a toy or engage in some kind of small talk to get the child's mind to focus on something else besides the shot. Sometimes, the parents will tell their child to take a big, deep breath, hold it all in, and then as soon as the need breaks the skin of the child's arm, the child should start letting out all the air.
In a similar fashion, Christians will face hardships in their walk as they grow in grace, allowing Jesus Christ to permeate more aspects of their lives. For many conscientious believers, those who find that they are struggling with an unclean habit or a frame of mind which distracts or distorts their understanding or their peace, often they need to know that they are not responsible for making the changes in their life, but rather the Spirit of God which lives in every believer.
"Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4: 6)
How does the Spirit of God operate within us? Paul writes in a numbe of passages throughout the New Testament Epistles how His working within us brings Christ into us, to live and thrive and move and have His being in every child of God:
"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Romans 8: 15)
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15: 10)
Then check out:
"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)
Also
"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1: 27) followed by "Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. (Colossians 1: 29)
Also
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1: 6)
How about this?
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 10)
Instead of looking at ourselves, the Holy Spirit invites us to believe on Him whom the Father has sent (John 6: 29)
We do not change ourselves, but rather we allow the Spirit of God to transform us:
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3: 18)
We are sons of God because of Jesus, the Son of God, who gave Himself for us (1 John 3: 1)
We are going to be like Him, and we will see Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13: 12), yet as we renew our minds to who we are in Christ (Romans 12: 2), then His love is perfected among us (1 John 4: 17).
Do not strain through your own efforts. Grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord as you behold Jesus in the Scriptures, and you will be transformed from glory to glory, from faith to faith.
Reaction to Santa Monica City College Massacre
Following the terrible massacre at Santa Monica City College, I hope that a cultural consensus of “locking up the guns” will be locked up for good.
I respect the arguments that liberals, and even some conservatives (like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie) have for limiting access to firearms. However, expanding gun control laws will not deter gun violence. Not the guns, but the violent gun-carriers; not the video games, but the lack of parental responsibility which allows kids to play those desensitizing games; not the schools, but a culture which has disdained the well-being as well as the individual rights of others has expanded a consensus which seeks to manage every trauma and danger, as if the most prescient foresight of our leaders can prevent every tragedy.
Tragedies like the Santa Monica City College massacre can be averted through less gun control. It would be more tragic if our leaders insist on ignoring this unpleasant reality. Instead of expanding background checks, our governments need to prosecute gun crimes. Instead of taking away toy guns from toddlers, Santa Monica activists need to expand the freedom of public schools, both the k-12 and post-secondary institutions, to exercise the authority to provide armed security on campuses and more discretion following the detection of criminal mental illness among students.
As long as leaders in Washington, our statehouses, and in our cities insist on ignoring these options, to that extent will our leaders fail to deter the core elements of massive violence in our communities.
I respect the arguments that liberals, and even some conservatives (like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie) have for limiting access to firearms. However, expanding gun control laws will not deter gun violence. Not the guns, but the violent gun-carriers; not the video games, but the lack of parental responsibility which allows kids to play those desensitizing games; not the schools, but a culture which has disdained the well-being as well as the individual rights of others has expanded a consensus which seeks to manage every trauma and danger, as if the most prescient foresight of our leaders can prevent every tragedy.
Tragedies like the Santa Monica City College massacre can be averted through less gun control. It would be more tragic if our leaders insist on ignoring this unpleasant reality. Instead of expanding background checks, our governments need to prosecute gun crimes. Instead of taking away toy guns from toddlers, Santa Monica activists need to expand the freedom of public schools, both the k-12 and post-secondary institutions, to exercise the authority to provide armed security on campuses and more discretion following the detection of criminal mental illness among students.
As long as leaders in Washington, our statehouses, and in our cities insist on ignoring these options, to that extent will our leaders fail to deter the core elements of massive violence in our communities.
Politicians are Human -- Keep Power out of Flawed Hands
Human beings are flawed. That’s just the way they be. Politicians amplify the flaws of human nature – the bent of compromise in place of conviction; heeding the interests of the majority instead of the truth, whether the numbers add up to more votes or not; and of course, power of any kind in the hands of one or the few, even for a limited amount of time, tends to corrupt people.
Yet in today’s political discourse, the winds of approval and opprobrium spin faster than one can engage or endure, and the majority of Americans, both day to day consumers of news along with political pundits, both left and right, are outraged, nay shocked —shocked! -- to witness their beloved pet politicians fail in one point or another. -- Now more than ever, it seems that men and women are expecting the world and then some from their representatives, when the Framers of the Constitution never intended for anyone to advance such trust and confidence in the federal powers, or even their state governments for that matter. Before the turn of the Eighteenth Century, Virginia and Kentucky passed express Resolutions to nullify the Adam’s Administrations Alien and Sedition Acts. 1815, the Hartford Convention, and the New England states were planning another country of their own, when were no “Damn-Bargo” would bar them from international trade, whether Napoleon or Louis XVIII rules in France, whether Wellington rule the waves or not, either. In 1830, John C. Calhoun and the South Carolina stakeholders moved to reject any Tariff which would hurt their cotton exports.
The statesmen of the past appraised the freedom of men more than the power of the state. This state of mind has been abandoned from the ship of state today, where the men who advance the power of the state do so at the peril of those who ship them to power in the first place. Consider Rick Santorum, former US Senator of Pennsylvania: a Big Government conservative, if there ever was one, of if such a political can still exist, he protected the unborn and pork projects without conflict. He lost his senate seat by double-digits, only to climb from outlier to challenging the front-runner (of sorts) during the 2012 GOP Presidential primaries with a record as mixed as Romney’s.
Then there’s New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, lauded during his first year as the Garden State’s chief executive. He cut like a weed-wacker through the tax increase culture of previous Governor Jon Corzine. Yet while cutting taxes and killing pork projects, while he demanding that every staffer place “The Answer is No!” on every door of his office, Christie was still grappling with a growing exodus of residents to Pennsylvania or the South. He toyed with the notion of climate change. He led the charge to toughen gun sanctions, in spite of empirical, historical and anecdotal evidence which disparages any pretended benefits of gun control. What is Governor Christie thinking? The voters in New Jersey want gun control, so he shoots in their direction, accommodating their ignorance. Now he has declared a special election one month before his general election to fill a suddenly vacated US Senate Seat (RIP WWII veteran Frank Lautenberg). $21 million more down the drain for an election that will shore up his Jersey shore chances without shoring up support for his conservative credentials or his party in Washington.
Then there’s US Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire), who voted against the Toomey-Manchin gun background check compromise, heeding her core convictions, or the court of opinion in her home state. Now she is back-peddling on proclaimed opposition to the Gang of Eight’s immigration proposal. The same conservatives who lauded her support for the Second Amendment now condemn her flinching support for an amnesty-on-delivery that would make Ronald Reagan look like the border enforcer that he never was (before “Iran-Contra”, there was the Simpson-Mizzoli compromise, legalization of illegal immigration with no border control).
Looking beyond “imperfect” Ayotte, US Senator Pat Toomey has moved away from social conservatism, recognizing that his bluer constituency rethink reelecting him in 2016. Fellow senator Joe Manchin has shifted with his party, not his state, in supporting ObamaCare, then expanded background checks. In the name of “getting along to go along”, their respective constituents are not so happy to go along nor respect their representatives’ choices.
As former House Rep candidate Mia Love (R-Utah) shared, Americans need to think less “Democrat vs. Republican”, and more “States vs. Washington.” Within those taut dynamics, voters need to think less about voting for people whom they can trust, but trust themselves as little as possible to the people whom they vote for. Any politician, however committed, will also be calculating their reelection chances. Even crypto-anarcho-libertarian House Rep Ron Paul (R-Texas) was guilty of sending pork back to his home district.
Human beings are flawed; politicians more so. These flaws will not flee away by electing “the right people.” To minimize the flawed, disappointing leadership in this country, “We the People” should place as little power as possible in flawed hands in the first place.
Yet in today’s political discourse, the winds of approval and opprobrium spin faster than one can engage or endure, and the majority of Americans, both day to day consumers of news along with political pundits, both left and right, are outraged, nay shocked —shocked! -- to witness their beloved pet politicians fail in one point or another. -- Now more than ever, it seems that men and women are expecting the world and then some from their representatives, when the Framers of the Constitution never intended for anyone to advance such trust and confidence in the federal powers, or even their state governments for that matter. Before the turn of the Eighteenth Century, Virginia and Kentucky passed express Resolutions to nullify the Adam’s Administrations Alien and Sedition Acts. 1815, the Hartford Convention, and the New England states were planning another country of their own, when were no “Damn-Bargo” would bar them from international trade, whether Napoleon or Louis XVIII rules in France, whether Wellington rule the waves or not, either. In 1830, John C. Calhoun and the South Carolina stakeholders moved to reject any Tariff which would hurt their cotton exports.
The statesmen of the past appraised the freedom of men more than the power of the state. This state of mind has been abandoned from the ship of state today, where the men who advance the power of the state do so at the peril of those who ship them to power in the first place. Consider Rick Santorum, former US Senator of Pennsylvania: a Big Government conservative, if there ever was one, of if such a political can still exist, he protected the unborn and pork projects without conflict. He lost his senate seat by double-digits, only to climb from outlier to challenging the front-runner (of sorts) during the 2012 GOP Presidential primaries with a record as mixed as Romney’s.
Then there’s New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, lauded during his first year as the Garden State’s chief executive. He cut like a weed-wacker through the tax increase culture of previous Governor Jon Corzine. Yet while cutting taxes and killing pork projects, while he demanding that every staffer place “The Answer is No!” on every door of his office, Christie was still grappling with a growing exodus of residents to Pennsylvania or the South. He toyed with the notion of climate change. He led the charge to toughen gun sanctions, in spite of empirical, historical and anecdotal evidence which disparages any pretended benefits of gun control. What is Governor Christie thinking? The voters in New Jersey want gun control, so he shoots in their direction, accommodating their ignorance. Now he has declared a special election one month before his general election to fill a suddenly vacated US Senate Seat (RIP WWII veteran Frank Lautenberg). $21 million more down the drain for an election that will shore up his Jersey shore chances without shoring up support for his conservative credentials or his party in Washington.
Then there’s US Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire), who voted against the Toomey-Manchin gun background check compromise, heeding her core convictions, or the court of opinion in her home state. Now she is back-peddling on proclaimed opposition to the Gang of Eight’s immigration proposal. The same conservatives who lauded her support for the Second Amendment now condemn her flinching support for an amnesty-on-delivery that would make Ronald Reagan look like the border enforcer that he never was (before “Iran-Contra”, there was the Simpson-Mizzoli compromise, legalization of illegal immigration with no border control).
Looking beyond “imperfect” Ayotte, US Senator Pat Toomey has moved away from social conservatism, recognizing that his bluer constituency rethink reelecting him in 2016. Fellow senator Joe Manchin has shifted with his party, not his state, in supporting ObamaCare, then expanded background checks. In the name of “getting along to go along”, their respective constituents are not so happy to go along nor respect their representatives’ choices.
As former House Rep candidate Mia Love (R-Utah) shared, Americans need to think less “Democrat vs. Republican”, and more “States vs. Washington.” Within those taut dynamics, voters need to think less about voting for people whom they can trust, but trust themselves as little as possible to the people whom they vote for. Any politician, however committed, will also be calculating their reelection chances. Even crypto-anarcho-libertarian House Rep Ron Paul (R-Texas) was guilty of sending pork back to his home district.
Human beings are flawed; politicians more so. These flaws will not flee away by electing “the right people.” To minimize the flawed, disappointing leadership in this country, “We the People” should place as little power as possible in flawed hands in the first place.
Monday, June 10, 2013
God the Father Found His Honor -- In His Son
"A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?" (Malachi 1: 6)
The honor that God the Father was looking for, He could not find from His people Israel.
In fact, none of us can give God anything, since Adam's sin has imputed to us the same sin and death (Genesis 3: 1-8; Ephesians 2: 1)
The honor that God could not find from us, He found in His Son.
First, though, God is Love, and this Love is manifested fully in His Son:
"The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." (John 3: 35)
and also
"For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel." (John 5: 20)
Jesus honored His Father by obeying Him in all things, most of all by going to the Cross for all of us:
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2: 5-8)
And also
"8Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 10Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec." (Hebrews 5: 8-9)
For this reason, Jesus could say, and we can receive:
"Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me." (John 8: 49)
Let Jesus your High Priest minister the honor to the Father that we could not manifest on our own, and know that His righteousness accounts all good things to you through Christ.
The honor that God the Father was looking for, He could not find from His people Israel.
In fact, none of us can give God anything, since Adam's sin has imputed to us the same sin and death (Genesis 3: 1-8; Ephesians 2: 1)
The honor that God could not find from us, He found in His Son.
First, though, God is Love, and this Love is manifested fully in His Son:
"The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." (John 3: 35)
and also
"For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel." (John 5: 20)
Jesus honored His Father by obeying Him in all things, most of all by going to the Cross for all of us:
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2: 5-8)
And also
"8Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 10Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec." (Hebrews 5: 8-9)
For this reason, Jesus could say, and we can receive:
"Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me." (John 8: 49)
Let Jesus your High Priest minister the honor to the Father that we could not manifest on our own, and know that His righteousness accounts all good things to you through Christ.
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