A Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer

Turkey Day? How far the mentality of the citizens of the United States of America has drifted from the time of the founding of the nation.

In 1789 both Houses of Congress voted to urge the president to proclaim a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. The text of President Washington’s proclamation along with some comments is posted here.

His proclamation, given at the urging of Congress, is worthy of reading again. The last full paragraph is of special importance.

It saddened me to see the extreme emphasis that has been made this year on “Black Friday.” It was reported that people were lining up outside of Best Buy on Wednesday to be ready for the store’s opening on Friday so as to be able to grab greedily the special sale items. Some people completely bypassed the National Day of Thanksgiving so as to be ready to grab Black Friday specials.

As I post below, the true Black Friday treasures are available every Lord’s Day, and those who want them can partake of them freely. Black Friday, the day when retailers say that they move from the accounting status of Red to Black, is a minor reflection upon the one true and great Black Friday of history when Christ paid the world’s debt of sin so that by faith forgiveness is received of all debts everlastingly.

Is this not worthy of standing in line to receive, far and above any specials offered at Best Buy or Sears or Walmart? Once upon a time in this country such appears to have been the focus of Thanksgiving. For some, it still is.

Thanksgiving Day

Yesterday was a wonderful day. It was like having an extra Lord’s Day in the week. It was another glorious opportunity for partaking of the wedding feast that the Lord has instituted for our renewal and strengthening in His grace.

While my wife prepared the turkey and other fine foods for the Thanksgiving meal, I had another time of feasting in the text of the Holy Scriptures preparing for another sermon. Then the Divine Service and the Holy Supper. Then a bit of discussion and study. Then the wonderful meal of Turkey and other delights for our tastebuds and bellies, as well as more discussion and reflection.

Sunday we enter into the season of Advent. How wonderful!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my wife’s birthday anniversary. It was a joy to celebrate with her the gift of life that God has bestowed upon her and the gift of her life and love that He has bestowed upon me through her.

This celebration was also a reminder to me of the reality that I face every day, the reality that I can never be to her the husband that I desire to be. She does not fuss about this fact, but I do. I often ponder the frailty of my love and the impotence of my strength in providing for her.

I have often wondered how I would do if anything ever happened to her so that she truly depended upon me. Before we were married she had cancer. What if it should return someday and she depended upon me to care for her? What sort of husband would I be? When I consider the poverty of my current bestowal of love to her, I cower to consider how I could fail her if she ever really needed my love to be strong.

I am very grateful to know that my strength comes not from my internal fortitude but from the Lord. I also am very grateful that my wife knows this as well, both regarding my strength and hers.

How can I even properly account how blessed I am to have such a wife in the Lord? She tells me regularly that her greatest blessing and joy is in having a husband who preaches the Gospel. She speaks of her gratitude to God for the fact that I count the Gospel as the one thing necessary and that I spend my days searching the Scriptures so as to be able to direct her to that one necessary thing in her life and in our life together.

Can any man be more richly blessed?

Oh, what a happy birthday! Oh how wonderful that God has brought my wife into the world and has given her to me for as long as we both shall live.

Happy Birthday, Dear! Thank You, Lord!

S.1796 The Healthy Family Act

Is it not amazing how the media continues to portray all of the usurping of the authority of States and of the individual American as “what the people want”? Yet in my daily discussions with people I cannot find anyone who supports this or desires it, especially when people begin to realize what is really being done.

Do you support this?

Yet onward the senators are pushing, once again calling for a vote on a weekend when the people will not be able to respond.

What is being pressed upon us is the notion that there is nothing that can be done.

But the Constitution grants us the right to call upon our State Legislators to impeach the US Legislators who willfully and belligerently violate their oath of office and mock the people of this nation. Yes, we can remove these rascals.

For a bit more on this, and what you can say to the Senators through their staff people, here is a site with a little more information.

Emergency Alert! Instruct Senators to Vote NO on O-No-Care S.1796 The Healthy Family Act (The Happy Insurance Companies Act).

More on this is available at TomWoods, especially under the headings, “How to Resist the Federal Government?” and “The States’ Rights Tradition Nobody Knows.”

The bottom line is that the actions that the federal government, from the President and his czars to the Legislators and the Courts, are illegal. They are committing criminal acts against the Constitution and the people of this nation, against the States, and against liberty.

Calling to say “vote no” is not enough anymore. It is time that the American people utilize the authority that is entrusted to them to hold these criminals accountable, not in a future election, but today.

The founding fathers of this nation revolted. They went to war against this kind of tyranny, in order to insure that we would be able to fight without bloodshed. The so-called civil war resulted because of similar acts against the States and the people. But we do not have to take up arms. We do not have to make physical threats. We have Constitutional authority to remove those who perjure themselves, swearing to uphold and defend the Constitution but then ignoring it and worse, outright violating it and all that it declares.

Moreover, we do not have to follow the two-party farce that continues to pit Americans against one another, not on the basis of ideals, but on the basis of us against them. It is time for the people to promote a third party or parties that actually offer candidates who do what they promise to do.

But first we must deal with those who are seeking to force us into a world-wide tyrannical rule by the centralized banks and international corporations. We must actually hold these Senators and House of Representative members accountable for their acts of betrayal. We must tell them that we know what they are doing and that we have the Constitutional authority to remove them from office. If they go ahead with their illegal activity, we must act with the authority that is ours.

But time is ticking and the window of opportunity is a narrow one.

If you want to contact your Senator, the Congressional Switchboard is nearly always busy. The easy number is 1-877-SOB-U-SOB. Yes, this is the real number. But it is always busy.

However, a couple of web sites that provide more direct information, phone numbers, and contact links are:

Contacting the Congress

and

Project Vote Smart.


It is not enough for even those of our Senators who claim that they will not vote for the health care bill and other usurpations of our liberties. We need to be calling upon them and demanding of them that they speak out loudly and ceaselessly that this bill is illegal as well as immoral. It is not only against the will of the people, but it is a direct assault upon the Constitution and therefore is not binding upon the people.

Those “Republicans” and “Conservatives” who do not cry out in this way need to be told that they are as guilty as those who vote for these criminal bills and that we will remove them from office for neglecting their duties just as we will remove those who criminally enacted the bills. Negligence of duty is just as serious as actively committing the crimes.

What is more, we should not imagine that just because the bail-out and stimulus fraud was passed that we cannot reverse it. We can hold these criminals, both in the White House and in Congress, as well as in the big banks, accountable. We told them “NO” and they did it anyway. When they ignore us and pass this heath care fraud, we can say “NO!” We can remove them from office and throw out their illegal bill. We do not have to accept them as our masters! We do not have to live as their slaves!

Does Anyone KnowWhere the Love of God Goes?

I remember growing up hearing this song of tribute by Gordon Lightfoot. Even today it strikes my heart with a very deep and powerful sense of sadness. Such tragedies move us deeply.

In Lightfoot’s song a question is asked somewhere near the middle of the song:

Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?

Is there anyone who has not asked this question in some form or another? Is there any person who has not suffered the anguish of feeling as though God’s love had been withdrawn in times of great emotional distress?

Even the Son of God Himself, God Incarnate, cried out when in His own flesh He carried the burden of our sin and the emotional and spiritual separation of the curse of sin that wells up over us like the waves that struck the Edmund Fitzgerald, crying out:

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)

Thanks be to God that His love does not go anywhere! As Jesus cries out on the cross, He cries out as our substitute. He took the full measure of the curse of sin into His own flesh and died in our stead. He cried out with our sense of abandonment so that we would know that we do not stand forsaken by God. Jesus cried out in the darkest moment of the history of the world. Jesus cried out when the full measure of evil converged upon a single point in time. So powerful was this cloak of the darkness of evil that even the sun’s light was darkened at mid day. All of this was laid upon Jesus, our brother. He took it into Himself for us.

This is the fulfilment of what was promised in the garden millennia before and reiterated many times throughout the millennia that preceded this “Great and terrible day of the Lord” of which Joel prophecies in Joel 2:31.


In Matthew 14:22-33 the disciples of Jesus were in a storm on the sea, thinking themselves alone. But the Lord Jesus came walking to them upon the water. When Peter realized that it was indeed the Lord, he asked whether the Lord would have him come to Him on the water. Such is the way of true faith.

True faith always hears the voice of the Lord and then asks what the Lord would have the person to do. The answer is always the same, “Come!”

The Lord has clearly told us that He is with us in every circumstance, every trial, every fearful reminder of the evil age in which we live. In every moment we may come to Him in prayer and in prayerful contemplation of the inspired words of Holy Scripture and in singing the hymns. Faith opens our eyes to see and our ears to hear and our hearts to believe the comforting voice of the Lord our God, our beloved Savior.

But like Peter, we are inclined to turn our eyes away and to heed the sound of the crashing waves. Then fear floods our hearts and minds and we cry out like Gordon Lightfoot: Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?

The truth is that the love of God has not gone anywhere. We are the ones who have turned from God’s love so that we can no longer see or hear or believe it.

But in a moment His love is restored to us when we hear His voice through the means that He has promised and ordained.

This is why the Liturgy has been given to us. No, not a particular ceremony pieced together by fallible men, but the form of true worship in spirit and in truth. This is why the Lord Christ ordained the Sacraments for the life of the Church. He ordained real means by which we would actually see and feel the Word coming to us and giving us the faith that we cannot obtain for ourselves. The Sacrament of the Altar is the ultimate proclamation of the Lord’s death till He comes. With the bread and the wine the Lord Jesus declares that we actually receive His body that unites us as one in Him and His blood by which we receive the forgiveness by which we have life itself. When we receive Jesus in the ways that He has ordained, then we truly know His presence with us throughout every moment of our lives and our fears are turned to confident faith for the facing of whatever waves may buffet us and the ships that we build for ourselves.

Our ships and houses and all of our works are easily destroyed by the tempests that come against us. But the works of the Lord are almighty and the one who trusts in His works is never left to wonder where the love of God has gone.

Giant Gator Tale

Or should that be Giant Gator Tail?

Below I have linked to the photos included in the article at OutdoorLife entitled: “Giant 1,000-Pound Class Florida Gator”. The article tells the story of the capture and kill of this giant monster. The tail, which is very good eating if prepared properly, is as large as a grown man. Read the story for yourself. The pictures are linked below.



Growing up in Orlando, I have seen many alligators, especially when fishing as a boy and young fella. In college I once tasted deep fried cubes of gator tail that some friends had prepared. They were very good.



At the seminary, professors warned of “alligators” in the parish. They spoke of tactics in attempting to “deal with the alligators.” There is even a book with that in the title, written by a so-called expert.





As these photographs show, the so-called alligators are not the real problem, not in the swamps of Florida nor in the parish.



The real problem is that alligators are a protected species, both in the Florida swamps and in the parish. At least a licence can be procured for the Florida swamps. Not so in the parishes of the churches of today.



Alligators can be fearsome monsters, especially when provoked. But the true parish pastor is fully equipped to deal with alligators, if he is permitted to do so.



Like this big brute, parish alligators can be worn down, overpowered, and slain. That is what the Law of God’s Word does. As I was once told, “Pastor, it’s not fair that you always quote the Scriptures. I can’t defend myself.”



But the true pastor is not satisfied with the death of the alligator. The true pastor is a slave of his Master, who desires that all the alligators be saved. Truly the alligator must be slain by the Law. But through the proclamation of the Gospel, the alligator can be resurrected to live the new life of peace and love.



Claws like these appear fearsome when used for destructive purposes. But alligators also use their claws to dig places for laying their eggs. In a similar way, those who previously lashed out against the pure Gospel and Sacraments can become great builders of peace and concord when the Word is preached purely and the Sacraments are administered as the Lord has ordained. Such is the way when the alligator is slain and resurrected with the heart and soul and mind of a sheep.



Sadly, the real dragons are those who forbid the pastor from using the fullness of the power of the Word to slay the alligators so as to resurrect them with the Gospel and the water of regeneration. Rather, those old dragons come after the pastors, driving them out or eventually slaying them.









Of course, no pastor should remain in an alligator infested swamp. Only a fool would build a shanty in which to live in the midst of a swamp full of alligators. Sheep don’t live in a swamp. Neither do shepherds.

But then, this is only an alligator tale. Right?

Congressional Switchboard

Has the Congressional Switchboard ever been as busy as in the last few years? Trying to dial the numbers for the Congressional Switchboard today yields a busy signal or the nasty 3 tone ear blast followed by “We’re sorry, all circuits are busy.”

An interesting aside was noted by a friend regarding one of the toll free numbers for the switchboard. The number is 877-762-8762. Using the keypad letters this spells 877 SOB U SOB, or Servants of Bankers You Servants of Bankers.

This is an interesting observation. One can hardly count it as funny, though.

At the pace that Congress is working to force new legislation into law, letters via the US Postal Service are too slow. Emails seem largely to be ignored. And the Congressional Switchboard is overloaded.

So the frustrated people of the country turn to talk radio where they pacify one another, telling each other that they are great Americans and the like.

More and more diatribe and lambasting is encouraged as banter and even more perverse, as making a difference. What should be acted upon is turned into a game, into word play. Talkers sign contracts for millions of dollars while those calling in are pacified and directed to useless tea parties and other impotent gatherings of noise makers who cry out about how their government is abusing them and bankrupting them. Meanwhile, those who actually take action by stepping outside the two party system are vilified or demeaned and diminished, if not completely ignored.

How many people have even heard of the recent bill that has been sponsored that calls for a complete audit of the international banking cartel known as the Federal Reserve? How many people have even heard of H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009? Have the so-called conservative talk show hosts been discussing it? Have they encouraged people to consider the merits of this bill? Or is the traditional lambasting of the Democrats what they have promoted?

What value exists in lambasting others without taking decisive action oneself?

Where does all of the interest earned by the Federal Reserve go? The interest that is charged to the federal government should be accounted for, should it not? Does the Federal Reserve association of bankers pay taxes on its income? Why is the federal government charged interest on its own money in the first place? Does anyone keep track for the sake of the general welfare of the citizens of the nation? Why is HR 1207 not front page headline news?

Health Care Reform Criminals

PELOSI: Buy a $15,000 Policy or Go to Jail

JCT Confirms Failure to Comply with Democrats’ Mandate
Can Lead to 5 Years in Jail
Friday, November 06, 2009

Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

This is the opening of a press release from yesterday sharing the intentions of those who are ramming the so-called health care reform down the throat of the US Constitution and the people it was written to protect.

For the full press release click here.

The actual November 5 letter from the Joint Committee on Taxation is available here.

An article on this subject, Health Care Reform Assumes Millions Would Pay Fine Rather Than Get Coverage shares similar information, prior to the disclosure of the severity of the intentions of those seeking to enslave the American people through the facade of health care reform (and economic bailouts, etc.).

An article in the Boston Globe, Penalties to rise for shunning insurance, gave warning of these intentions already in January of 2008!

Will the American people allow this to happen? Will they remain transfixed before the American idol of the television while the Congress and President and Judges and other servants of the Centralized Banking System take over the nation and the world? How long will the people hold to the tradition of the two party system that continues to dictate the same institutionalized puppets? Several so-called third parties continually offer candidates who pledge themselves to make a real difference, candidates who openly reject the way of international enslavement of the common people. Are these really Third Parties, or are they actually the true representatives of the liberties upon which this nation was founded? Are the so-called third parties really the muffled voice of the people? How long will the people continue to wear the muzzles that have been placed upon them, especially by the Republican Party?

If ALL of the people who claim to hold to the Constitution as the governing authority for the USA were to act in accord with their claim instead of continuing to vote for so-called conservatives or moderates within the Republican Party, if they stopped listening to the fraudulent pundits who insist that a third party choice is a bad choice and that the obstinate Republican party must be reformed, what would be the result? What would happen if even ten percent of Congress were replaced by third party candidates? But why stop at ten percent?

More importantly, how long will the American people allow those who currently hold office to violate blatantly the oath of office that was taken? How long will they allow such criminals to continue without being held accountable? After all, who is the real criminal: the American citizen who believes that health care should be under one’s own jurisdiction, or the Congressman or Czar who manipulates the law to work against the Constitutionally provided freedoms of the people? Or is the real criminal the American citizen who continues to vote the political criminals into office? Ultimately, it will be the American citizens who pay the penalties.



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Perhaps a person may ask why the Republican Party should be addressed so strongly and nothing be said concerning the Democrat Party. The answer is that the Democrats openly show themselves as proponents of destruction. They are so overt in their actions that no one ever accuses them of being “conservative” or “originalist”. The Republican Party, however, continues to be labeled as the bastion of conservativism and of Constitutional governance and of small government and the like. Yet the Republican Party continues to lead quietly and even covertly in the same globalist path as the Democrat Party. There are a few within the party who cry out, but they do not rise within the party, or they eventually conform to the facade.