Have You Spammed Yourself Today?

A few minutes ago I received a phone call from myself.  At least so said the caller ID.  This is also what the phone company has on record.  My name and my home phone number called me on my home phone.

It was one of the bogus "Credit Card Services" calls.  Each time that this call comes, the recording says that it is the "final" call, pressing me to respond.

Having called the phone company, I was told that this is a new occurrence that is happening frequently in recent days.  The phone company has no record of the real caller.  Therefore I cannot report it, nor can they.  Not that the government agencies would do anything anyway.  Actually, they are likely the ones making the calls.  Who knows?

The lady at the phone company suggested being registered on the National Do No Call Registry.  I informed her that this has become useless.  She said to sign up every year.  She says that this is what she does.

She also warned that one should not answer calls such as this as it tells the caller that this is a valid number.

So now I have to be wary of phone calls from MYSELF.

So be on guard, you may be calling yourself today, too.

Hmm.  The saying used to be that one is OK when talking to oneself so long as one does not answer oneself.  I think this meant not to answer as though being another person than oneself.  Regardless, now we have to beware of calling oneself and answering oneself.

Argghh!





By the way, these calls always use the same recording with the same woman's voice.  This means that it is the same deceivers making these fraudulent calls.  So how hard is it for the proper agencies to track them down?

Moreover, "Credit Card Services" is the same name as what many of the credit card companies now use for servicing their accounts by phone.

So who is really making these calls that we are told are untraceable?

Who is really being traced and by whom?



I'm tired.  I'm tired of the abuses.  Sadly, they are only getting worse each day.



Come Lord Jesus, come!

Revelation 22:20

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Decepticon Invasion

Yesterday afternoon we received a phone call from a caller that was IDed as being from Atlanta, GA.



The caller asked for my wife by name, by her first name.

As is my custom, I asked who was calling.

The caller identified herself as Sandy, with a group name that I do not remember, and said that she was calling about the Pro-Life issue.

Her manner of speaking was unusual, not flowing with the normal flow that I expected.  Having read of robotic phone calls, I asked whether she was a real person.

She chuckled and said that she was a real person, and added that she has a slight speech impediment that might make her sound unreal, but that she was a real person.

This I knew was unreal and asked, “What is your name?”

She responded, saying, “Uh, huh,” with a pause of a second or two and then, “Sandy.”

After this the matter was confirmed and I ended the call.

I called back the number displayed on the caller ID, and the ear piercing tone sounded with the recorded announcement:  “The number you have reached is not in service.  This is a recording.”

So, now we not only have computers programmed to call us and harass us, but these robotic callers also have been programmed to respond with lies to our inquiries.  This has been occurring for some time, but now the lies are becoming more sophisticated.

I find this to be disturbing.

The phone company informed me that such is now possible using software that gives false phone numbers and ID’s.  This way the callers bypass attempts at blocking unidentified callers so that this safeguard does not protect a person from such callers.

Technology.  Uh huh.  As is often the case, what is touted as wonderful and liberating is frequently invasive and problematic.  Progress.  Technology.

I miss the simplicity of times past.  At least then the Decepticons were human and somewhat accountable.  Or at least so we thought.  More and more it is being revealed that deceivers have always hidden behind another form or a mask or a pseudo-identity.  It has been so from the very first deception by the father of lies.  I suppose it is foolish to imagine that anything under the sun has changed.

So what do we do?  Be aware and on guard for ourselves and for others.  Make the Decepticons known when it is possible.  Stand ready to help and comfort those who suffer from the deception and theft and other harm.  Proclaim the One who never lies, who is always faithful, who has provided the way through every trial and trouble even before we encounter them.  Sing the hymns of pure doctrine and everlasting hope and peace and joy.  Live in that hope and peace and joy.  Partake of the pure and unadulterated means of His grace.

It is good to know that the Lord is real, and that His voice and Word and doctrine are consonant, and that He has come as He promised and has given Himself for us, even unto the death of the cross, and has risen from the dead and ascended again to His heavenly throne and has sent His Spirit at Pentecost, all as He has promised repeatedly and consistently of old.  When He calls to us, it is always through the same means as He has ordained.  His proclamation has not changed.  His means continue unchanged.

With this before us, what does it matter if the Decepticons attempt their futile deceptive acts against us?  Ultimately what do we lose?  The kingdom is ours in Christ our Lord.  We are more than conquerors though the one having loved us.  We don’t even have to fight.  We don’t even have to strive to win.  The victory and the kingdom have been declared to be ours through the faith that also is given to us freely by the grace of God at work through His means.  What is really left but to abide in the peace of God that surpasses all understanding and to sigh the great and peaceful sigh of Amen?

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Another Hideous City Council Farce

In our latest bill from the City of Wichita for our water usage is this flyer: H2O-flyer-PDF

Front view:

 Back view:

Here is the City of Wichita video presenting the deep compassion of this new program:





At 1:28 in this video the presenter says:

   

It is so important to me, especially after the last water bill raise.

In the opening portion of the video she says:

This month, the City of Wichita City Council approved a new program, known as the Help₂Others, H₂O, Care Fund.  It provides a way for people to make donations, so that others in our community can keep their water on. As you know, this has been an ongoing problem for the last year or two.

Over the last few years I have called to complain about the outrageous increases.  With each increase was another excuse.

The last time that I called can you guess the answer that I was given?

I was told that the City is punishing us for using water.

This is UN Agenda 21 being implemented without actually acknowledging it.

Yes, this has been an ongoing problem.  With one of the rate hikes we were told that it was because we had not used enough water.

Yes, the City claimed that it could not meet the Water Department’s budget because people had conserved too efficiently.  So the City raised the rates to steal more money from us.  If less water is used, so also less cost is demanded of the corporation called “The City of Wichita.”  But they are seeking to make money, not merely to meet budgets.

Now they are spending money on a program and its propaganda, to urge citizens to give compassionately for the poor people whom the City Council has broken financially.

Surely we should be deeply moved by the compassionate approval of this program.

What fools we are.  We have allowed them to raise our rates endlessly, with truly asinine excuses that change with the wind.

What has happened to all of the increased revenue?  Where has it gone?  Why do the City Council members not simply use these excess funds to help those whom they have broken?

Why do the people of Wichita continue to allow such frauds to hold office and to abuse the populace?

. . .

Perhaps the more pertinent question is “Why do I continue to imagine that attempting to call people to be aware with the hope of action on their part is a worthwhile venture?”

Twice we voted down the building of an undersized arena in the downtown area.  Twice they put it on the ballot and we said “NO!”  Then they told us that they were building it anyway and that they would make us pay for it, putting on the ballot two choices as to how we would allow them to steal our money.  Our sales tax rate was increased as a result.

They continue such abuses and they continue in office.

They raise our water usage rates because we don’t use enough water.  They raise our rates because we use too much water.  They raise our rates because the rates are too low.  They raise our rates without justification several times.  They raise our rates to help pay to pump river water into the aquifer.  They raise our rates because they want to raise our rates.

Now they want us to raise our rates voluntarily!

The truly disheartening reality is that people will do it.

Even more disheartening is the realization that people will believe that this money will be used to help others.

How soon after this will the next non-voluntary water rate increase be implemented?

. . .

When a True Statement is made to be False

     There are many examples of this in the world. A statement is made, using portions of the truth to present a falsehood. The devil is the inventor of this tactic. He used this tactic in the garden of Eden to tempt the woman to doubt the truth and to refashion God’s Word according to her own reason. The result was that Mankind was cut off from the Truth, cut off from Life. Death thereby came to mankind in connection with the blindness and corruption of sin. The devil foolishly tried this tactic with Jesus, too. The devil actually quoted Scripture to Jesus in an attempt to move Jesus to accept something false. The devil actually quoted the Scripture verbatim. But he used the Scripture out of context, applying it to try to present a false precept, and therefore the true statement was actually false. Even though the statement was true in the context in which it stands written, used as the devil used it, it was nevertheless false.

     At When Love Encounters Impenitence, Love Does Not Go to War a statement is quoted as a beautiful “bit of grace and truth.” The statement is made at Steadfast Lutherans within the comments concerning the article Interesting Interview of Pastor Morris in the Newtown Bee, by Pr. Rossow. Notably, Pr. McCain in his blog post quoting this statement does not provide a link to where it was made. Thereby he uses the quote without allowing his readers to examine how it was used.

     The quoted statement was actually used to attack other Christians, using the deliberately controverted guise of love. The statement is actually an attack on people who are openly and honestly addressing a serious issue and calling for dishonesty within their church body to be swept away so that the truth may prevail among them.

     Here is the statement, which, divorced from the context in which it was presented, is a truly beautiful “bit of grace and truth.” It sounds wonderful until one reads it in the context in which Pastor Fiene has written and presented it.

When love encounters impenitence, love weeps while shaking the dust off its feet. Love doesn’t go to war. It doesn’t badger. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t scream for everyone to fix their eyes on the sin that’s already been made as public as it can be.

Love doesn’t continually appoint itself to the task of penning another epistle of rebuke. It doesn’t repeatedly provide online fuel for those who easily explode in anger and cruelty. Love doesn’t seek to stir up more anger over vacations or preferential treatment.

Love is patient. Love recognizes that, were it not for the calling, gathering, enlightening, and sanctifying of the Holy Spirit, not a trace of orthodoxy would beat in any of our hearts. Love remembers that countless saints spent far more time than Pr. Morris has defending their sins before the Lord brought them to repentance. Love waits, hopes and prays that our brother in Christ will one day see his error.

And, in the meantime, if love must shake the dust off its feet, then that’s what love must do. But it does so in tears, not in a manner like this.

     The issue being raised by the original article is the issue of a blatant sin committed within the LC-MS. The pastors and congregations of the LC-MS take an oath not to partake in unionistic worship. In the situation being addressed, a pastor openly, publicly, and proudly violated this oath. When he was called on it, he apologized in a way that actually accused those who sought to bring him to repent. I posted concerning this at An Apology Is Not Repentance. The end result was that the LC-MS president apologized for attempting to do his sworn duty, while the one who should have been called to repent denied that he did any wrong. The way it was finally presented was as a call to the members of the LC-MS to repent of their desire to call sin “sin” and to call sinners to repent of their sins, especially their public sins against the Gospel.

     The falsehood begins with the very first sentence, where Pr. Fiene says: “When love encounters impenitence, love weeps while shaking the dust off its feet.”

     This is a very devilish use of the truth. For this is exactly what the Lord Jesus has commanded the saints to do regarding those who reject the truth that has been presented to them. However, Pr. Fiene is not in agreement with Jesus that Pr. Morris should be confronted openly with the truth and then told that he is not a Christian on account of refusing to acknowledge his sin and repent of it. The people whom Pr. Fiene is countering are actually calling for Pr. Morris, as well as his district president and Pr. Harrison to be called to repent of their public sin in this matter, the sin of calling sin as “righteousness” and righteousness as “sin.” They are calling for repentance of all three lying pastors. But even they are not speaking of shaking the dust off their feet. Even they are not saying that if these lying pastors refuse to hear the truth and be called to repentance that they should be excommunicated for the sake of showing them the seriousness of their impenitence. Pr. Fiene especially is not calling for this. He is trying to condemn those who are at least calling their leaders to be accountable. He is trying to change the focus from the call to the leaders to repent, so that the focus becomes one of calling those who are calling for repentance to repent. But because this devilish maneuver is masked as love, it is a very effective deception.

     If those who practice unionism don’t believe that it is sinful, then they should admit this and end their participation in the LC-MS communion. However, the sad fact is that the LC-MS is not what it claims to be. The LC-MS has openly practiced unionism at many levels for decades, perhaps really even for its entire existence. The LC-MS has only pretended to be against unionism, while allowing it and actually practicing it for years.

     From that perspective Pr. Fiene would be correct, if indeed he were saying that the members of the LC-MS should admit the longstanding impenitence of the LC-MS and with tears shake the dust off their feet and walk away.

     But Pr. Fiene’s dishonest use of the truth goes further still. He says:

     Love doesn’t go to war. It doesn’t badger. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t scream for everyone to fix their eyes on the sin that’s already been made as public as it can be.
     Love doesn’t continually appoint itself to the task of penning another epistle of rebuke.

     This ignores the very obvious fact that war has already been declared and imposed upon those whom he is condemning. War has already been declared by those who gave an oath not to partake in unionism and then have openly done so and furthermore have publicly sought to make unionism the accepted practice of the church. Those who stand up against this are persecuted until either broken or driven out of the LC-MS. Those who do resist, those who do fight against those making war against them, are doing so not only for their own sake, but for the sake of their loved ones who are being destroyed spiritually in this war imposed by the so-called tolerant ones.

     This is true also for those who have admitted the truth of the impenitence of the LC-MS and have shaken the dust off their feet and walked away in tears. They still look on as they see their family and friends being led further and further away from the narrowness of the truth into the broad path of relativism and tolerance of adulterated doctrine and practice. As they view the changes effected in their family and friends, their love does move them to pen yet another and another epistle. They do experience and even express holy anger as they stand helplessly watching their loved ones spiritually eviscerated.

     And then Pr. Fiene and Pr. McCain cry out that love does not cry out against such things.

     Truly there is a point where one must finally say, “I have nothing more whatsoever to do with thee.” There does come the time where mourning and even praying for such comes to an end, as the Lord told Samuel to stop mourning for Saul and John says not to pray for those who sin unto death (1 John 5:17).

     I must admit that I don’t really know how to make this distinction and so I simply continue as the Lord Jesus teaches in the Our Father and as the General Prayer follows the admonitions of the apostles, praying for everyone generally. As for those who seem to be beyond receiving anything good from me, I do eventually stop praying for them specifically, including them in my general prayers for all and for all of the enemies of the cross. And even though I have shaken the dust off my feet concerning the impenitent churches and those who remain in their clutches, my heart nevertheless longs for their repentance unto the way of true peace and life.

     It seems that a big issue for those still in churches like the LC-MS is that they imagine that they are still fighting to protect their home and loved ones. They seem not to realize that their church body that they call home has been confiscated by the enemy. So they continue fighting for what is no longer theirs. They fight battles that are nothing more than futile rebelling against the established rulers of the household. From this perspective they would do well to hear Pr. Fienes that such is not the way of love. Love rather would admit the impenitence of their false church so that they would shake the dust off their feet and walk away in tears. Then they would be free to embrace the true faith, the true doctrine, and the true worship without continually fighting the enemy whom they falsely call brother. Then they would begin to understand what St. John declares, saying:

     Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. (1 John 3:13-14)

     In order truly to love the brethren, one must first rightly acknowledge the brethren. Continuing in fellowship with those who are not the brethren is to malign and despise the brethren. Those who love the brethren do not join themselves to the world that hates the brethren. Rather, in love for the brethren, they stand together with the brethren apart from the world. It seems odd that so many have forgotten this so that they continue to cling to worldly corporations that use “Church” in their corporate identities while ignoring and even despising those who stand apart, gathered into the name of Jesus. They somehow seem to have become convinced that love means holding to the church that bears the name and works of their fathers and grandfathers rather than the Church founded upon and preserved through the name and works of Jesus.

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The Global Future - Sustainable Development

Do you have plans for your future?

Do you have a vision and a planned agenda for your life and the life of your family?

The globalists of the world do.  They have been planning your future and the future of your family and the future of the people of the world for many decades already.  They have an actual agenda:  Agenda 21, UNCED



At Agenda 21, UNCED the agenda is currently available as PDF or HTML.  But the UN keeps changing their site, making it hard to link to this information.



The global agenda planners call their planning “Sustainable Development” and “Sustainable Living.”  These terms have been circulated through the media and the government schools.  They are being used throughout the Green Movement at every level of government, from the local county and city planners to the national governments of the world.

During the 1990s, the terms were being inculcated but the source was kept more or less secret.  The people of the world were not told openly that this terminology and planning was a global scheme planned by the powerful elite of the world.

The terms were carefully chosen to sound innocuous.  But if a person reads carefully and with discernment, one begins to realize what is really enshrined in the terminology and agenda.

What does Sustainable Development really mean?  To the innocent observer it sounds as though wise use of natural resources in ways that promote clean and efficient usage that coincides with natural renewability is the agenda.  But as one reads with discernment and wariness, one soon perceives that the actual sustainable development of this agenda is the development of sustainability of power and control for the elite over the rest of the people of the world.

This agenda has been propagated through the media and every social network for decades, since long before social networking was a term in common parlance.  The result is that most people are oblivious to the changes in power structuring that have been implemented.

The agenda reaches even farther back into history, if one accounts the secret societies and their centuries of activities. For example, most people have been conditioned to think of the Masonic Lodge in connection with the Shriners, without even considering what it means to be a Shrine-er.  In times past, the Shriners shrined and shrouded the covert activities of the lodges, presenting a facade of foolishness and innocent childish enactments as a cover for the real workings of their lodges.

An organization that few people know about is the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA).  In earlier years this was a very secretive group.  In the 1990s only a few knew of it and stepped forward to expose the group and its agenda.  Since then the WCPA has gone public, but not openly so.  Have you ever heard of this organization?  Has it been reported in the media?

The purpose of this organization is the implementation of a One World Order, a one world government.  This organization has been responsible for drafting The Constitution for the Federation of Earth — "The Earth Constitution".

Here is the WCPA web page.

"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair."

That sounds wonderful!  Doesn’t it?

It does indeed, at least until one considers what it really says.  It says that a single standard or flag or banner will replace all national standards.  Is this really what the people want?  Are the people of the world really clamoring for a new world order in they which will no longer have any options?  Are the people of the world really desiring to have their every movement monitored and regulated by a far away group of elite controllers?  Do the people really want to have their national uniqueness stripped away from them with a new unilateral way imposed upon them?

The newer WCPA web page presents an even lovelier picture of the new One World Order:

Here is a closer view of the very lovely sentiment expressed on this page:

Thank you Glen T. Martin for this picture of the New World Order.

A little lower on the same web page Glenn offers this photograph, with the caption: “Democratic World Law is the twenty-first century form of love”.



What does this look like to you?  Does this look like a gathering for a religious conference?  Is that not what the slogan “Democratic World Law is the twenty-first century form of love” suggests?

What about this photograph?



In case you cannot read the banner on the side of the van:

How about this one?



Doesn’t this group make you feel good about having them determining how you must live your life? Are you not filled with confidence for the future as you think of those who call themselves the “World Thinkers and Poets” drafting the laws by which you will be governed?

“Democratic World Law is the twenty-first century form of love”, does this not bring to memory how George W. Bush spoke of “Spreading Democracy” to nations that he and his advisors determined to be in need of being invaded and conquered and occupied by U.S. military forces?  Is this not the same rhetoric of Barack Hussein Obama, or Barack H. Obama, as he was sworn in for the second time, as he expands this concept of World Love through the drone attacks in addition to other bombings, assassinations, manhunts, and military force?

Many Americans have accepted this rhetoric.  They gather behind their political party and cheer.  They especially cheer when their favorite leader says: “And God bless America” or “Thank you.  God bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America.”

Is a world-wide religion being promoted by the slogan:  “Democratic World Law is the twenty-first century form of love”?  On this you may find Gary Kah’s Historical Summary from his book, “The New World Religion,” an informative read.

Furthermore, even without the new world religious considerations, the means of enforcement and implementation of this new world government and constitution is eye opening.  Consider what the WCPA The Constitution for the Federation of Earth — "The Earth Constitution" says especially in “Article 10 • The Enforcement System” and “Article 17 • Ratification and Implementation.”

Read these with the language of Agenda 21 in mind.  Then observe the changes already being forcibly imposed upon your own locality.  Observe the many increases in taxes, fees, and regulations.  Observe how often the term “sustainable” and “green” are the motivational control words.  Observe how often financial institutions are using these terms to manipulate you into surrendering personal control to them.  Observe how often the concept of “world peace” has been and continues to be used to reform people’s thinking to willing acceptance of more and more regulation and control by the governing entities.

This is a great and enormous load for a person to carry.  Such knowledge can be overwhelming.

For those who desire to have this and other burdens lessened and even removed, I offer the reminder that such is available through the one true religion of the one true God, the Lord, Yahweh, Jesus.

Psalm 23

     The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

     Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  (Matthew 11:28-30)

For those who are willing to consider it, there is an historical fact that is really quite marvelous to ponder.  In the history of the world there was one nation, one people, who needed no government to be imposed upon them.  Those who trusted in the Lord had only His divinely ordained order for family.  No other government was needed, for the Lord was their true Shepherd and they trusted in Him and walked in His ways.  Even when the Lord delivered His people from their bondage in Egypt, they had no external government.  As long as they continued in the true fear and love of the Lord their God, they had peace, both amongst themselves as well as peace from attack by foreign kingdoms.

But they kept turning away to trusting in their own desires and reason and in the ways that they observed amongst other peoples.  Each time they suffered as the Lord and His holy life were pushed aside and out of their lives.  Eventually they demanded that Samuel give them a king like that of the other nations.  Samuel warned them of what such a demand would bring upon them and how they would lose the freedom that exists only in the blessed communion of the Lord.  But they insisted and then they had to endure harsh treatment and regulations and taxation and conflicts.

Yet the Lord promised that He would raise one up from among them through whom He would restore His divine rule so that they would again enjoy His peace, His rest or Sabbath.

We all long for this deep in our souls.  This is why Glen T. Martin chose the phrase: “Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair.”  This is an appeal to the conscience in which God has written His eternal Law.  “Repair” is a term for rest, or Sabbath.  The Lord established this from the Seventh Day.  Mankind has a deep yearning for this to be restored, even though mankind also resists it continually.

This blessed Sabbath Rest is the rule of peace that the Lord promised with the promise of the Messiah or Christ.  This peace is superior to the peace that people imagine and strive to achieve for themselves.  This peace can and does exist and even prevails in the midst of the most extreme crises.  For those who are baptized into the body of Christ, into God’s kingdom on earth, this peace now rules and guards their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus as St. Paul assures us in Philippians 4:7.

There are many religions and even many Christian religions that offer a path to peace.  But the peace of God is not found through following a path.  Rather, the peace of God in Christ IS the path.  It is the path upon which, or more precisely, into which we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit through the water of Baptism.  Jesus Himself is the path or the way or the hodos.  For those in whom the faith to believe this has been generated from above, they continually abide in this peace, this way of life.  They continually come to the Sacrament where Jesus is received again and again along with all that He promises to give to His beloved disciples.  They go forth renewed in Christ and His grace, mercy, and peace to face the daily lack of peace in the world.  This peace of God empowers them to continue in His peace even in the most extreme circumstances and trials.  This peace carries them through in the victory that has already been won for them on the cross and imparted to them in their baptism.

For those who seek to find peace through their own efforts, rejecting the means of grace through which this peace of God is given freely, they continue to seek and struggle and strive to obtain what they only imagine for themselves.  They obtain momentary sensations of peace, but never the enduring peace that overcomes all things.

After Joshua had led the people of Israel into the new land and established them in it by the hand of the Lord, he gathered them together at Shechem and said to them:

     And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  (Joshua 24:15)

Notice that Joshua does not imply that abiding in God’s grace and peace and commandments is a choice that believers make.  He actually declares exactly the opposite.  He says that those who consider it evil to serve/worship the Lord are those who make a choice.  Those who know the Lord as the Almighty and the Most High God who hears their prayers and delivers them from all of their enemies, even sin and death and the devil, those who fear Him so as to acknowledge Him as their omnipotent Savior and Redeemer so that they look to Him in every need in true trust as their heavenly Father, such serve/worship Him in accord with what He has ordained rather than seeking and choosing for themselves how best to live or to define and approach God.  Such Godfearing people do not struggle to find peace.  They abide in the peace that has been won for them through the struggles and strife of the One who did so in their stead.  They do not seek to find this peace, neither do they strive to obtain it, neither do they fabricate ways to peace, for this peace possesses them, heart, mind, body, and soul.  This peace guards and keeps them forevermore in their Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.

Those who reject this way, who deny Jesus outrightly, they seek to obtain peace through various means of force.  They try to regulate people to maintain peace.  They try to “spread democracy” with guns and tanks and planes and ships and missiles and bombs.  They try to coerce people into ways of peaceful control through World Constitutions and United Nations’ agendas.

What is worse yet is the way in which those who create a Jesus in their own image and so they seek to obtain peace through their own religions that they present as of Christ.  Such “Christians” have rejected the express declarations of Jesus that His kingdom is not of this world and that His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom and that the kingdom of God does not come by observation and that it especially does not come through worldly government by the power of the sword or gun.  And so such things as Christian Crusades and Inquisitions have been promoted and exercised.  Less overt methods are pursued, too, such as the Church Growth Movement, the Ecumenical Movement, Evangelism Programs, Revivals, Evangelism Crusades, Altar Calls, and TV/Radio Evangelism.  When each of these are examined for what they really are they are exposed as more subtle ways of coercion and methodology.  And so people are told to make decisions and choices and commitments that they do not have the power to fulfill.  People are told to make Christ the center of their life and they struggle ever after to try to convince themselves that they have done so sufficiently.  On and on the struggles arise.

The peace that the Scriptures of the Holy Spirit teach is the peace that is received purely as a gift, through means ordained by the Giver of this peace.  His ordained means require nothing of those who receive them.  The power and efficaciousness of these means are entirely independent of those who receive them.  The Giver is the one who acts.  He gives freely by grace through faith, and even this faith is His work and gift.

As for me, I will stand with Joshua in saying, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  After all, of what does serving the Lord consist beyond the “Amen” that faith produces?

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The Painful Reality of Going Green

This week I had the pleasure of meeting a very sweet gentleman of a few more years than myself.  We worked together for a couple of days on the same property where a couple of large trees, one damaged and one dead, needed to be removed.

We had many opportunities to converse.  In the sharing he told me of many hardships that he has faced in his life.  One of these was the terrible tornado that devastated the town of Greensburg, Kansas in May of 2007.  Before and after Aerial Photographs can be viewed at Greensburg, Kansas - Two Aerial Photographs - Before and After the May 2007 Tornado.  Here they are for a smaller viewing:





This gentleman had just re-roofed his house.  In the roofing process he decided to storm proof the house.  He ran 3/8 inch logger chain up the studs and over the rafters, anchoring the entire house to the ground.  His house was the only house standing in his block after the storm.  The only damage to his house was from the roof of another house striking the peak of his roof and from a two by four that was driven through one of the walls.  Otherwise his house was in perfect condition.

However, when he applied for a permit to repair the very minor damage, the city would not give him a permit and made him tear down his house.  They were Going Green and were not allowing any homes to be left standing.  They had to be rebuilt with the new GREEN regulations.

So this man lost his home to the Green movement.  His house and property were stolen from him by the government through the false claims of eminent domain.

Furthermore, the people were not allowed back into the town to salvage their belongings.  This man had a couple of Snap-on rolling tool chests full of tools in his shed.  The shed and tools were bulldozed into the street and stolen from him.  Also all of his appliances and supplies were stolen from him by FEMA and the EPA.

He lost everything.

How does destroying a home so that a new home with all new lumber and concrete and steel and appliances equate to being conservation minded and environmentally friendly?

How is it just to take a man’s belongings from him without any compensation whatsoever?

Wikipedia’s reporting at Greensburg, Kansas shows that in 2000 there were 1,574 people, 730 households, and 453 families residing in the city.  According to the 2010 census there were 777 people, 355 households, and 212 families residing in the city.

How many businesses would have rebuilt and how many homes would have been rebuilt without the new Green requirements?  Since the people were not given the choice, we will never know.  However, the town is now less than half the size.

According to Five Years after Being Destroyed by Tornado, Greensburg, Kan. Rebuilds - Greener and Better, the town’s population was 1,400 in 2007 before the tornado (obviously an estimate).  This report also estimates about 900 currently, a little better than half.

The article declares:

“When we first started talking to people about rebuilding and going green, nine out of 10 people came right back to us with, ‘I’m no tree hugger!’” according to Daniel Wallach, a Kansas businessman and one of the major driving forces in Greensburg’s return. “And now look at us. It’s just incredible.”

To whom does he refer when he says: “And now look at us.”?

“Only thing we had left was each other,” said Bob Dixson, who would become mayor of Greensburg one year after the storm. “You see everything wiped out, and you just pull together.”

Really?  What about those who did not want to be forced into new debt and merely wanted to rebuild the town as it had been?  What about those who did not want their town taken over by FEMA and out of town big money?  What about those who were forced out and lost their property, not because of the tornadic destruction but because of eminent domain usurpation?

In the days and weeks after the storm, with the much-maligned Federal Emergency Management Team in town and offering aid, there were a few discussions about how best to rebuild Greensburg. But at the time, not many people wanted to hear it.

And what of those who did not want to hear it?  What of their voices?  What of their vote?  What of their right to rebuild according to their own plans?

Whose town did Greensburg become?

Who pressed the new Green life upon Greensburg?  What does Green really mean?

For those who own construction interests and the new Green technology, Green means mega $$$.

For lovers of liberty and justice for all, it means that the United Nations Agenda 21 is being implemented in full force.  It means that the freedom to own property and use it according to one’s own best interest and goals is obliterated by those who use government to control others.

How many times have tyrants used this same kind of rhetoric to wrest control from the people?  How many times have the people been persuaded to surrender their liberty and freedom and rights in the name of progress and rebuilding?  Is this not the exact manner in which Hitler and those like him have risen to power?

This pattern begins small, like with a tiny town of 1,400, way out in the middle of what is counted as nowhere.

Here is Greensburg:









My new friend had a home there.  He worked hard and invested to make his home lovely, strong, and safe.  His work and investment paid off.  His house survived the storm.  But it could not survive the government.

Now he lives in Wichita where he had to purchase another house of lesser value than the one that he had.  His home in Greensburg was wiped out by the Green agenda.  How long till this spreads to Wichita?  How long will his home, and mine, be safe from the Green agenda here in Wichita?

Bye Bye for Now

For now, Wichita water can say Bye Bye to fluoridation.

Amazingly, the deceitful propagandists with their exorbitant spending did not win the day.  Enough people were aware of the facts and were unwilling to be swayed by dishonest dentists, doctors, and pharmacon pushers that the addition of this poison to our drinking water was voted down by 60% to 40%.

Therefore, those who want to poison themselves may do so, but the rest of us are safe from forced fluoridation.  At least until the Obama and his health czar or other administrative tyrant somehow make it a national mandate.

At least we should not be getting any more phone calls from the ADA calling us liars for presenting the facts that even the FDA and CDC openly admit.

It is a little victory, but nevertheless cause for giving thanks to God.

Fluoride Is Good for You - Can You Trust Your Dentist?

The American Dental Association is ramping up its efforts to promote fluoridation of Wichita’s water.

The Phone has been ringing with a recorded message from a dentist who calls those who are opposing this toxic substance/medication being forced upon the public LIARS!

Yes, she actually calls anyone presenting the truth about fluoridation LIARS!

Guess who she claims as the authoritative source for this claim.

The MEDIA!

She actually makes the claim that every time that the MEDIA has checked the scientific evidence that the MEDIA has found it to be false.

She claims that “Fluoride Is Good for You!”

Does she give any actual scientific evidence for this claim?  Does she give any actual evidence that counters the warnings about what fluoride actually does to people who consume it?

Why would a dentist act this way?  Why would the ADA make such an effort to promote this toxic waste being added to our water?

Do these dentists have anything to gain?  Is it possible that they gain something by this?

Have you heard of Fluorosis?

Definitions of fluorosis are easily found on-line, such as the CDC’s article: Community Water Fluoridation.

Some photographs of fluorosis are also available, such as these:









Wow!  What wonderful smiles drinking fluoride can produce!  Guess who people turn to in the hope of correcting this when it happens?

Could it be their dentists?  Do dentists make any money from this?  Hmm?  Does the ADA benefit from this?

Here is the definition from medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com:

fluo·ro·sis
n.
An abnormal condition caused by excessive intake of fluorine, as from fluoridated drinking water, characterized chiefly by mottling of the teeth.


fluorosis /flu·o·ro·sis

1. a condition due to ingestion of excessive amounts of fluorine.
   
2. a condition in humans due to exposure to excessive amounts of fluorine or its compounds, resulting from accidental ingestion of certain insecticides and rodenticides, chronic inhalation of industrial dusts or gases, or prolonged ingestion of water containing large amounts of fluorides; characterized by skeletal changes such as osteofluorosis and by mottled enamel when exposure occurs during enamel formation.

Sadly, fluorosis is only one of the effects of ingestion of too much fluoride.  Some are far worse.

But the ADA and many dentists want us to believe that adding fluoride to our drinking water is a good idea.

The published list of those dentists and other medical professionals who have endorsed this can be viewed at Medical Community Endorsements.

At Endorsing Organizations another list of the organizations is listed.

Is your dentist or other health care provider listed?

Did you know that some dentists and health care providers refuse to be members of these organizations because of these issues?

Yes!  There actually are people who are standing up for us and saying NO to the organizations who claim to be looking out for us but are really promoting things that are only good for their own business interests.  Some of these people have faced persecution from their peers, yet they continue to act according to their consciences and for the good of their patients.

Is it time that people start asking more questions of their health care providers?  Could it be that we should stop giving blind trust to “professionals” and should learn more about these issues ourselves?

Did you know that the ADA actually has a web page called Statement on FDA Toothpaste Warning Labels, where the ADA announces that they are trying to persuade the FDA to remove the requirement to warn people about the dangers of swallowing fluoride?

Can you believe this?  Even the FDA and the CDC, with their shabby record, still warn the public against the dangers of fluoride ingestion, but the ADA publically declares that they want them to stop.

Could it be that it is time to reward those brave and honest professionals who stand against the pressure of their peers to go along to get along?

To whom do you really want to give your trust?

Uncle Sam: “I Want YOU!”

As I was reading various news articles and contemplating the recent laws and executive orders that have been enacted, this image came to my mind:



On one US postal stamp it was reduced to this:



This truly does seem to portray what the powerful elite have transformed the American government to be and do and seek.

I find my self wondering how I ever was duped into believing that the government was about serving the people.  How many generations have accepted this stern and even vicious image and its slogan as a portrayal of the United States and her government?

It is really quite frightening to realize what it actually says.  It is perhaps even more frightening to realize that by and large we all have accepted this.

How much Fluoride is dangerous?

To a person who is knowledgeable concerning body chemistry and function this is a ludicrous question.  To any doctor or dentist or pharmacologist, each of whom has been required to study organic and biochemistry as well as human physiology, this question should seem absurd.

How much poison is dangerous for people knowingly to ingest?

Fluoride is a very dangerous toxic substance.  It has the capacity to do serious damage or even to kill.

On every fluoride toothpaste package a standardized warning is posted, warning against ingestion of the toothpaste.  The warning reads that if more than the normal amount used for brushing should be swallowed that immediate medical attention should be sought.

How much actual fluoride is this?

On the toothpaste cartons that I have examined, the amount of fluoride ranges from 0.15% to 0.24%.

Thus according to the usual amount of toothpaste promoted by the toothpaste manufacturers, that is, one inch squeezed onto the toothbrush, an amount weighing about 1.5 grams, the total amount of sodium fluoride would be about 3.6 milligrams (0.0036 grams).

If the calculations are made using the lower percentage the amount of fluoride is even less.

In both cases, both higher and lower percentages, the warning is the same, that anything more than this should be considered cause for seeking immediate medical attention.

Now . . .

. . . consider the amount that is commonly added to municipal water supplies:

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services the current standard is 0.7 to 1.2 mg/liter.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also has announced a proposal to reduce this amount to 0.7 mg/liter.

How much water do humans need to consume daily?

According to the Mayo Clinic’s article “Water: How much should you drink every day?”,

     “The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. The AI for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day. ”

For a man such as myself, who works outdoors, on a hot summer day this consumption is 2 to 3 gallons or 7.57 to 11.36 liters.

Consider the amount of fluoride that the toothpaste warning says is cause for seeking immediate attention.  On the carton that lists 0.24% the amount of 3.6 milligrams is the amount.  On the carton that lists 0.15% the amount of 2.25 milligrams is the amount.  According to the warning, anything exceeding this is cause for seeking immediate medical attention.

For children, the ADHA recommended amount of toothpaste is limited to 0.25 grams or a mere 0.6 milligrams of sodium fluoride.

And how much is the amount of fluoride being added to municipal water?

0.7 to 1.2 milligrams per liter!!!!

This is like telling one’s children to brush their teeth and be sure to swallow it all every time that they brush.

How many parents would do such a thing?

What sort of dentist or doctor or pharmacologist would sign a statement saying that this is safe?

If you would like to see the official list, here it is.

My wife and I will be seeking another dentist, one who does not say that it is a good idea for the city to poison its citizens.

Fluoride Toxicity

Conspiracy theories cease to be theories once verified by undeniable facts.

A cowardly attempt to counter the truth is often made by opponents of the truth by falsely and deceitfully applying the term “conspiracy theory” so as to evoke an emotional response and rejection of the facts by those who do not know the facts.

Such a coward left a comment on one of the posts below regarding fluoride toxicity.  The coward hid as “anonymous” and gave no supporting evidence or facts, only saying, “Wow, I didn't know the fluoride conspiracy theories still existed.”  I deleted the comment but quote it here.

An Internet search will provide many solid sources of reliable scientifically proven facts regarding the terrible toxic effects of fluoride.

One such Internet site is found at Medscape Reference, entitled, Fluoride Toxicity .  There are many sources that address this issue.  This particular site only addresses the immediate toxicity and not long term, and so it addresses the more dramatic effects.  But fluoride has cumulative effects as well.

For those who desire to drink this substance, they may certainly choose to do so.  However, I will not stand by without dissenting against forcing this upon the entire community.  Neither will I remain silent while liars seek to deceive people who would not willingly partake of this dreadful toxin if they were properly informed.

The term “conspiracy theory” is a term that should serve as a red flag when it is heard.  Honest people do not ordinarily resort to this term.  They prefer to present facts that allow people to make informed decisions.

MORE Lying Propaganda!

Today in the mail we received yet more propaganda for poisoning Wichitans.

I barely had time to post on this matter and we received yet another mailing from the group that deceptively calls itself “wichitans for healthy teeth.”




This is angering.  These so-called facts have been proven to be false, yet here they are presented as the truth.  Ingested fluoride is not effective, certainly not more effective than topical application, for prevention of tooth decay.  This is a proven fact. See the sites listed in the previous post below for the studies.

Moreover, ingested fluoride is very much a danger.

Consider these typical and standardized warnings on toothpaste labels:

 

 

Again I am moved to ask:

Who are these people, anyway?


Why are they so determined to persuade communities to buy poison to spread throughout the entire community through the drinking water supply?

Why do they completely ignore, deliberately ignore what is clearly declared even on toothpaste labels?

Why are they allowed deliberately to misrepresent what is known about the dangers of fluoride ingestion?

Why are these people not being prosecuted for their criminal activities?

Who are these people?

Who are they REALLY?

Who is behind this push to add horrifically toxic substances to our water supply?

Why are they not being held accountable for this false advertising?

Why is this open attempt to poison entire populations not being prosecuted as terrorist activity?

Just in case the toothpaste warning somehow escaped notice, here it is again:

Warnings

Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age.
If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.

If more than used for brushing

is accidentally swallowed,

get medical help

or contact a

Poison Control Center

right away.

What part of this warning is unclear?

What part of the warning that fluoride is a dangerous substance that should not be ingested is not clear?

By the way, did you notice the amount of fluoride that is in toothpaste that is considered enough to require this warning label?  It is less than one quarter of one percent.  How much is considered to be dangerous enough that people should be warned to seek medical help if it is swallowed?  Anything more than what is used for normal brushing, which is one inch of toothpaste squeezed from the tube onto the toothbrush.  More than this is labeled as cause for seeking medical help.

The United STATES of America

Today is a rain day.  Rain, rain, rain.  Climbing trees and working with equipment that act as lightning rods in a thunderstorm and rain is not a responsible way.  So today I am studying and doing other desk work.

Among my ponderings this day is a comment made earlier this week by a gentleman acquaintance concerning the Constitution of the United States.  His statement was incorrect but the point that he was making was entirely accurate.  He said that the Constitution declares us to be these United States and not the United States.  He was emphasizing the fact that the Constitution declares only a confederation of States.  However, he was incorrect about the wording.  The fact remains nevertheless.  The Constitution does indeed refer to the union of separate States that stand together in union with one another according to this Constitution.

It is frightening to realize how badly misdirected we all have become through the false indoctrination of the government school system and mainstream media and the film and entertainment industry.  The mainstream churches have joined in this false indoctrination.

The pledge of allegiance that we all were taught is a flagrant act of false indoctrination.  I was aghast when I realized this.

Several sites that address the author and promoters of this pledge are The Pledge of Allegiance - A Short History, Pledge of Allegiance, and The Pledge of Allegiance.

I was amazed today when I accessed the text of the Constitution of the United States and performed a search for the word “nation.”  If you would like to try it yourself, one source is The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription.  Give it a try.  See whether or not the Constitution ever uses the word “nation” with respect to the United States.  What I found is that it is only used with reference to foreign nations and never with regard to the United States.

This is because of what a State is.  Consider the definition given at state by Oxford Dictionaries.

A State is an established sovereign government.  It is a nation.  Thus, the Constitution always refers to the United States in the plural.

The phraseology used in the Constitution is very carefully crafted.  Great care was used always to refer to the States and the protection of the States.

In Section 4 of Article IV this is especially declared:

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.

Notice the care taken to avoid the terms that would imply “one nation.”  Rather it is “every State in” “this Union.”  This Constitution declares a voluntary Union of separate States, united together under this Constitution for the support and protection of every State against Invasion and domestic Violence.

It is frightening to observe how this was used to the direct opposite purpose in the War between the States.  The protection of the States was overturned.  Their Statehood was denied them and taken from them by force.  They were invaded and conquered and driven into subjugation to a new Federal System.  Certainly various subsidiary motives were used to deceive people concerning the larger objective, but the ultimate issue was whether or not the United States was a nation or a union of States.

The War was an act to establish a totalitarian regime.

The pledge of allegiance was a socialist ploy to convince people to believe the lie that this was the understanding and intention of the writers and ratifiers of the Constitution.

It has been used very effectively.  I was certainly duped by this ploy.  The addition of “under God” was a masterstroke.  It was a return to the false doctrine of feudalism based upon a deliberate misuse and misinterpretation of such Biblical passages as Romans 13:1-7.

Today this abuse has been extended to the passage into law of the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 and Executive Order 13603 or Executive Order -- National Defense Resources Preparedness.

Such things were not possible for these tyrants to impose upon the people while the United States still existed.  The United States had to be destroyed and transformed from a Union of States into One Nation with States.  Then gradually the people had to be indoctrinated for the acceptance of this.

How many people today have even an inkling of this?  Wiser and better informed people have been crying out, but their voices have been drowned out by the powerful and the ignorant.  Sadly, I must confess that I have been one of the noisy ignorant.  I have voted for and even spoken in defense of the pseudo-Republican politicians.  On a couple of occasions I was even duped into voting for psuedo-Democrats.  Today I wish that I had better understanding in the past.  However, today, I also often wish that I had less understanding than I now have.

Ultimately I must remember that nations come and go.  Tyranny is the way of the fallen and sinful world.  I cannot stop it or prevent it.  I can only hold fast to the promises of God to carry me and the faithful through to our last breath on this earth, when we finally will see His deliverance in its fullness.  Until then, we live in the assurance of His forgiveness, mercy, and peace and do whatever little things that we have the strength to do for our loved ones, our brethren, our friends, and our neighbors both near and far.

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Biden Versus Ryan

We don’t watch TV.  We stopped paying for the misinformation and blatant lies in the federally owned and operated so-called local paper.  Radio sources for news are equally untrustworthy.  Internet sources also are suspect, but at least with those we can get a broader perspective.

Today I read an online report regarding the vice-presidential debate last night, entitled Snark, interruptions, 'derisive sneering'.

Of particular note is what is reported about the statements of the two candidates about their faith and what they believe concerning gestational children and what stand they promise to take in the White House.  Both men profess to be Roman Catholics.  Both men profess to believe that life begins at conception.

Both men say that they will do nothing regarding this belief.

Here is what is reported in the article:

Vice President Joe Biden said he personally believes that life begins at conception, but wouldn’t do anything to stop others from taking the lives of the unborn.

The arguments came the only meeting of the two candidates for the No. 2 office.

“Our faith informs us of everything we do,” Ryan said. He said his Catholic faith plays a role in his position, but reason and science complete his position.

“I believe life begins at conception. The policy of a Romney administration would be to oppose abortion except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother,” he said.

Biden also said he was “practicing Catholic” but he would “refuse to impose his beliefs on equally devout Christians…”

“Unlike my friend here, the congressman, I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that women can’t control their bodies. That’s a decision between them and their doctor,” Biden said.

According to this report Ryan says, “The policy of a Romney administration would be to oppose abortion ...”

Notice that no mention of any action is included in this statement.  This is what the Republicans have said for decades, yet when in office they do nothing.  They only move legislation on this matter when they know that they are a minority or they move legislation that does so little that it really amounts to nothing.  Nevertheless they boldly tout their opposition to abortion.  They boldly profess to oppose the taking of innocent lives.  They boldly claim to be Pro-Life.

Biden says that he believes that life begins at conception, but, “Unlike my friend here, the congressman, I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that women can’t control their bodies. That’s a decision between them and their doctor,” Biden said.

I wonder, will the people of the world ever grow weary of this insanely dishonest rhetoric?

Both men are knowingly, deliberately lying and attempting to deceive.  Yet the people from their respective sides close their eyes, ears, hearts and minds to what is being said, choosing rather to believe the lies.

Regarding Biden’s statement, does he apply this notion to driving under the influence of intoxicating chemicals such as alcohol, marijuana, and narcotics?  Does he say that he does not believe in telling people who consume alcoholic beverages that they have the right to control their own bodies and therefore may choose to drink to excess and drive without being held responsible?

What about people who want to own, carry, and use guns?  Does he say that they have a right to control their own bodies and carry guns on their persons without government control?

I could proceed with a very extensive list that would still be noncomprehensive, but surely these two examples make the point adequately.

Moreover, this statement regarding women controlling their own bodies is entirely and deliberately fallacious.  After all, whose body does abortion affect?

Two bodies are affected by abortion.  First is the woman’s body, that is invaded and put at risk by the action of artificial abortion.  This is an entirely unnatural procedure that in every instance puts a woman at risk over and above the already present risks of pregnancy.  Abortion is a dangerous procedure that often has complications that sometimes cause permanent injury to the woman and sometimes even results in her death.

Secondly is the developing body of the conceived child.  The lie of not knowing whether or not this is a living person has been openly debunked.  Even a man like Biden can no longer get away with hiding behind that lie.  Even he must now admit publicly to believe that life begins at conception.  So the fact is now openly admitted that abortion is the attack upon a helpless person in that person’s body.  Abortion is the deliberate ending of a person’s life.  It is a brutal assault upon this helpless person’s body.  Even in the case of abortifacients, it is a brutal separation of the person’s body from its safe haven, a brutal eviction that results in an ignominious death and disposal.  Often the body parts are even sold for disgusting uses that no person would permit if that person were given the choice.

So the issue of abortion is not about telling a woman that she has no choice in the control of her own body.  She is in complete control of her own body.  She can eat and drink as she chooses.  She can partake of any daily activity that she chooses.  She can watch any video or TV program that she chooses.  She can stay up as late as she chooses and go to bed whenever she chooses.  She can arise when she chooses.  She can seek any vocation that she chooses.  She can surf the Internet or Twit or partake of whatever other social networking that she chooses.  She can drive when and where she chooses.  She can exercise as much as she chooses.  She can meditate or pray or refuse to partake of these activities.  She can wear shoes or sandals, socks or pantyhose, a hat, sunglasses, a skirt or pants, a bra or no bra, makeup or no makeup.  She can marry or not marry.

These are not issues related to abortion until she and the abortion industry decide to take these choices and even life itself from another person.  The issue of abortion is one of telling a woman and the abortion industry that they do not have the right to destroy another person for the sake of choice or profit.

If we all faced this issue honestly, there would be no need for laws in this matter.  If women honestly consider what is at stake, they will not need to be told not to kill their own babies or allow them to be killed.  No woman who honestly counts her baby as a precious, living, human being would ever ask for someone to end her baby’s life, nor ask for someone to pay for this horrific atrocity.  No honest person would ever look upon the child with anything but tender and loving compassion and care.

Will the people of this country and the world ever wake up to the truth?  Will people ever see through the smokescreen of the politicians and the abortion industry and those who refuse to act responsibly regarding their own sexual activities?

Life is a wonderful gift.  For those who acknowledge the giver, this is so apparent that it changes the person from the inside out.  But even for those who deny the giver of life, the wonder of life is so immense that it is overpowering.  Even those who deny the gift cannot help but to see that a baby is a person who should be protected and nurtured, especially when the baby is housed within a woman’s own body.

Parenthood is a terrible responsibility.  It is a fearsome thing to face, even for those who eagerly seek it for themselves.  It becomes overwhelmingly fearsome to one who is not seeking it and has it occur without planning, or worse, has it forced upon her.

But the answer is not to count the life of the baby as a choice.  The answer is not to deny the baby any choice ever to be faced.  The answer is not to encourage women to make a choice that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.  The answer is not to encourage women to consider putting themselves at an added heath risk by choosing to permit an invasive and disruptive pseudo-medical procedure.

What is the answer?  The answer is Love.  Love produces compassion.  Love motivates us to look upon women as very special gifts from God to the world, gifts through whom He works the miracle of life for us all.  Love moves us to act with compassion and caring to those frightened by the new and often unexpected responsibilities that they face.  Love moves us to treasure the little ones whom we will meet when they are delivered from Mommy’s body into the world of light and sound and color and friendship and all the wonders that we so often take for granted.  Love moves us to see these little ones as gifts to us all.

This world in which we live is made to be a very frightening place through the selfishness and thoughtlessness that we choose to be our ways.  This is especially true for the helpless, the weak, the ignorant, and the poor.

However, Love changes this.  Love restores hope.  Love restores security.

Laws are necessary when Love does not prevail.  When Love is not King, then laws become necessary to help restrain lovelessness.  Laws have no power to produce Love, but they do help those who know Love and abide in Love to have a little less opposition in the world.

Thus we have laws that condemn and punish murder, stealing, and other acts by one against another.  But what we really need is the restoration of Love.  After all,

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.  (Romans 13:10)

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Ephesians 4 versus “Lutheran Christians”

     It seems that almost anywhere that a person turns in search of those who profess to be Lutherans that a very anti-Lutheran identity is encountered.  It seems that even amongst those claiming to be the most unabashedly Lutheran a very anti-Lutheran identity is professed.

     This term has become very common among those professing to be Lutherans and especially among those who present themselves as “defenders of the faith.”  They commonly refer to the importance of the historic liturgical practice.  They generally refer to the importance of the Lutheran Confessions, even quoting from them, and especially from Luther’s Small Catechism, sometimes from Luther’s Large Catechism, and also even from the Augsburg Confession and the rest of the documents compiled into the Book of Concord.

     Yet even while writing articles and papers regarding the importance of faithfulness to the doctrine and practice tabernacled within these Confessions, even while waxing eloquent in expressing how this doctrine and practice is truly the exposed Word of God as revealed in Holy Scripture, they then apply a term that completely undermines and denounces all that they have written and confessed and proclaimed.

     What is this term?

     Lutheran Christians.

     This self applied identity is anti-Lutheran.  It is, actually, anti-Christian and anti-Scriptural.

     But if one is so bold as to try to explain this to anyone who identifies oneself with this identity and with the identity of one of the larger Lutheran churches, beware!  Stoning could be the result.

     The Lutheran Confessions that the various so-called Lutheran bodies claim to embrace openly and boldly and uncompromisingly declare that such an identity is not of God and not in accord with the Holy Spirit’s revelation of the Word of God through the Scriptures.  In fact, the so-called Lutheran Confessions never even use the term Lutheran.  This came later as people began to depend upon the presumed faithfulness and power of their churches rather than the means of grace.  The use of the name of Lutheran became a way of pretense.  It became an identity that lost its original meaning and became just a trademark or brand of Christianity.

     Today this has become so pronounced that no one really even considers it anymore.  And so pastors and people alike refer to themselves and especially their churches as “Lutheran Christians.”  This is done in an attempt to justify their special niche in the realm of Christendom.  Since it is not counted as loving to proclaim the Scriptural doctrine of One Holy Catholic Church with a clearly defined identity that excludes all who create alternative identities, a very broad and loosely defined Christianity is applied to all, with idiosyncratic attributes and identities to various schismatic groups.  When the term “Lutheran Christians” is used, this schismatic or denominational view is what is being embraced and taught and professed.

     This is anti-Christian.  It is anti-Scriptural.

     I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.  (Ephesians 4:1-6)

     Here St. Paul teaches with absolute clarity that there is complete unity in the body of Christ, the Church.  This unity is said to be ONE body.  St. Paul addresses this with extremely strong chastisement to the Church in Corinth.  He plainly teaches them that they have ceased walking as one and that they have created divisions that result in extreme forms of idolatry.  He addresses the Church of God in Corinth, because this is who they were called to be.  A few still remained in that but were allowing divisions or denominations to exist and still be called the Church.  He called them to be turned again together to the true faith and to abide in the way of the truth in absolute unity.

     To the Ephesians the apostle declares that there is ONE body.  This is because there is only ONE Spirit, the very Spirit of God who called them to their vocation as saints in the Communion of God in Christ.  There is ONE body, ONE Spirit, ONE hope.

     He proceeds to explain that there is ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism.

     There are not multiple Lords who proclaim different doctrines and practices.  No, there is one Lord, who generates us all through one faith in connection with one Baptism.  There are not multiple definitions and confessions of faith.  There are not multiple ways of understanding Baptism and what God works through Baptism, just as there are not multiple Lords or multiple Gods.

     Yet there have been designed and declared multiple bodies and multiple Lords.  Jesus, the Lord, has only one body, yet self-identified Christians have presumed to divide the body of the Lord.  They have divided in their imaginations the Lord Himself.  Some say that 1 Peter 3:21 is not true and is not to be believed, saying that Baptism does not save, while others imagine that the mere action of baptizing apart from the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit can save.  Some say that a person can cause oneself to be “born again” or “regenerated” by one’s own choice and decision rather than being the sole gift and work of God.  Some say that the means of grace are merely symbolic and not actually efficacious.  On and on the variations go.

     Then there are the “Lutheran Christians” who say that they stand apart without standing apart.  They acknowledge those who say that Christ does not mean what He says regarding Baptism and the Holy Communion, saying that they are Christians, but merely erring or misunderstanding Christians.  Yet these divisive alternatives have existed for centuries and those who embrace them do not repent of these so-called misunderstanding even in the face of clear declarations from the Scriptures.

     This being the case, what do “Lutheran Christians” really mean by this term?  What faith are they declaring and confessing and embracing?  What Lord do they confess?  What body do they confess?  What Spirit do they confess?  What Baptism do they administer? What Supper do they administer?

     When a group of Lutheran Christians gather as a body, what body are they?  Within the various so-called Lutheran bodies, often even within the same congregation, there are multiple forms of worship, labeled as Traditional, Less Traditional, Liturgical, Less Liturgical, Contemporary, Rock, Jazz, Praise, and Blended.  These various worship forms and styles teach and practice different understandings of what it means to be the body of Christ.  They create multiple versions of Christianity under the facade of unity.

     This being the case, to what body are they really gathering?  In what body are they trusting that they are the Church?  It is the body that they have created through a corporate charter.  It is a business that markets Christianity under various definitions and forms, but lumping them all together as though the distinctions do not matter.

     This is what enraged the Lord Jesus when He encountered it in the temple courts so that He drove out the marketers of Church from the temple.  But that temple is no more.  Now the Church gathers as one body in various places and times, often as a mere two or three saints who have been drawn together into the name of Jesus through Baptism to partake of the pure means of grace together.  They are gathered not by their own decision or choice, but by the Holy Spirit who leads them to crave that which the Lord has promised and ordained for their everlasting unity and safety in His Holy Communion.

     The big bodies refuse to offer this.  They despise those who count the pure means of grace as the only defining characteristic of the true Church.  The big bodies urge devotion to their corporate structure and define evangelism and the work of the Church as maintaining this identity in the community.  And so they establish internal banking systems such as LCEF, that is, Lutheran Church Extension Fund, and teach people that by using this investment banking system that they are promoting the extension of God’s kingdom through the building of structures upon which signs are erected that declare buildings to be the Church.

     Because people have invested their treasures in these buildings and in the corporations that own these buildings, this becomes their definition of Church.  They then become enslaved to these as their God in which they trust.  Jesus warned that where one’s treasure is, there one’s heart is also.

     Thus people continue to look to their corporations and despise those who humbly and meekly are drawn to gather in unadorned places without pomp and grandeur, simply clinging to the pure means of grace as their identity and hope.

     It is quite common to encounter people who say in response to this, “I do not believe in organized religion.”

     This response is understandable considering the mass hypocrisy that exists throughout Christendom.  Yet this response is illogical, for religion is by definition organized.  The question that needs to be considered is who is the organizer?

     The Scriptures declare a very clearly defined religion.  And yet the Church of this religion is not at all complex.  Neither is it confusing.  Neither is it hard to maintain in unity and purity.  It is defined by its Creator as the gathering or flock or assembly or congregation that the Holy Spirit gathers to the pure preaching of the Word, which produces the pure administration of the Sacraments of Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Confession and Absolution offered in connection with these.  Where these are rightly administered and people gather in humble unity of the faith to receive them, there the Church is.  Here poor and rich, Gentile and Jew, man and woman and child, slave and free, all gather as one and rejoice in God’s goodness together.


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