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Has any person in human history ever experienced greater joy, and yet
endured more painful heartache, than Mary the mother of Jesus?
There is a scene near the end of The Passion of the Christ
where the Roman soldiers are lowering Jesus' body from the cross.
They place him into the arms of Mary as she kneels speechless before
them.
The scene ends with a haunting image of Mary cradling the corpse of
her mutilated, crucified son in her lap. She has no tears left to
cry. The awful events of the day have wrung her dry.
Numbed with grief, she stares off into space as her gown is soaked by
the blood that is still seeping from the ghastly wounds in Jesus’
lifeless body.
How could this be?
How did we, as a society, ever get to the point where we have to debate the definition of marriage? We got here by walking away from God one step at a time, that's how.
Anyone who truly believes that the Bible is the word of God is forced to acknowledge the reality of sin.
We are fallen sinful people living in a fallen sinful world.
"Sin" is not a popular word in politically correct post-Christian America. But God speaks pretty plainly in Scripture about the reality of our human condition, and "sin" is the word he uses repeatedly to describe our moral shortcomings.
If you do not believe in sin, then you do not believe the Bible. And it is OK if you do not believe the Bible. We live in a free society and freedom of conscience is enshrined in our Constitution. Your right to believe whatever you want to believe is guaranteed by the First Amendment.
Of course, the First Amendment cannot guarantee that whatever you want to believe is true.
The Bible says that God sent
his son to this earth "in the fullness of time" - at just the right
moment in history, chosen by him in eternity past.
Israel was a dark place when Jesus was born. The pagan Roman Empire ruled God's chosen people with an iron fist. The Jews had been waiting for centuries, clinging to the prophetic promises that a Messiah would come who would redeem Israel and rule the world with divine justice from his throne in Jerusalem. They envisioned a mighty warrior coming to save them from their enemies. The prophets had said that the Messiah would come in power and majesty to deliver his people from destruction.
So the Jews were looking for a king. But they had mis-understood the prophecies. Yes, the king was coming, but not yet in his full majesty. That final glorious revelation of the Messiah was reserved for a later date in history. It was time for the Messiah to appear, and indeed he did, but not as the conquering King of Kings. First the Messiah would arrive on planet earth like all the rest of us, a helpless baby, crying his way into the world.
I spent a recent Saturday morning assisting my daughter-in-law's father Andy on a perilous mission - escorting our two young grandsons to the Lego KidsFest at the Indianapolis Convention Center. It was going to be a special day of grandfather/grandson bonding.
Andy and his wife Carol originally planned to take the boys themselves, but when Carol was unexpectedly delayed out of town, Andy asked me to step in and help him. Despite my misgivings, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving a fellow grandfather alone with Zeke and Malachi in such a mob scene. And it could be fun, spending some quality time with the boys and a few thousand other young children frolicking amongst the Legos. What could go wrong?
My son and daughter were quite amused at the thought of me embarking on this expedition.
"Dad is going to the Lego fest?" my daughter Stephanie asked her mother. "I can't quite picture that."
My son Steve laughed at me out loud. "Spending the morning with a few thousand kiddies at the convention center? Have fun, dad."
Historically, black Americans have had a tough time living here.
The horrors of slavery are almost unimaginable to us today. Later, when slavery was abolished after the Civil War, blacks had to endure ingrained racial prejudice, Jim Crow laws, lynchings, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and segregation.
After World War II, when the Civil Rights movement began to really build up some steam, the struggle between black and white America reached a fever pitch. I was a goofy white grade-school kid in the 1960s, and I vividly remember the TV news coverage of the peaceful Civil Rights marches in the South, and the often violent push-back from white police departments.
Black Americans have a painful history with the white power structure. The distrust built up after centuries of abuse and mistreatment is hard to get past. I get that.
Even today, racism still rears it's ugly head much too often. I have a black friend who was seriously hassled last year while traveling through French Lick, Indiana. I'll spare you the details, but the cops gave him a really hard time, and ended up impounding his car, for totally bogus reasons. Had he been white, none of what happened to him would have happened.
This is just another example of the kind of "slow drip" soft racism that keeps black resentment simmering towards American society. I get that, too.
There are some people in the world who just seem to be born with their act together.
They are self-confident, disciplined, talented, hard-working, ambitious and successful. They live a moral, respectable life and make a positive contribution to society.
They create businesses or provide high-demand professional services. They volunteer in their communities and take care of their families. The world is a better place because they live in it.
But prosperous, successful people have one incredible difficulty to overcome if they want to enter the Kingdom of God – they have to forsake the pride of their self-reliance.
If you are a successful Type-A go-getter, it is easy to fall into the trap of self-justification. It is tempting to think that you have earned your way into God’s good graces. You might convince yourself that you have made it on your own and you don’t need anything from God.
That is a very dangerous state of mind.
Jesus once told a parable about a rich man who had just reaped an abundant harvest from his fields and was congratulating himself for his great success.
“A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing – he couldn’t get everything in. He thought about his problem, and finally exclaimed, ‘I know – I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones! Then I’ll have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Wine, women and song for you!”’
“But God said to him, ‘Fool, Tonight you die. Then who will get it all?’
“Yes, every man is a fool who gets rich on earth but not in heaven.”
(Luke 12:16-21, Living)
Pastor Robert Morris is one of my favorite Bible teachers. Check out this great post he recently wrote about the simple key to finding your personal faith in God. READ MORE
A person’s own folly leads to their ruin,
yet their heart rages against the Lord. - Psalm 19:3 (NIV)
Do you know people who are always complaining?
No matter how much they try, things always seem to go wrong? Do they whine about how unfair life is? If it weren’t for bad luck, they wouldn't have any luck at all?
It is amazing how often people with this attitude will blame their troubles on God. They say things like, "I don't know why God is punishing me this way,” or, "If God is supposed to be so good and loving, where is he? Why is my life so messed up?"
The people who say these kinds of things are missing an important point: You cannot blame God for the condition of your life if you have never allowed him to be in charge of it.
If your life is a train-wreck, you need to ask yourself, “Who has been running the locomotive for all these years?”
Have you honestly been seeking God’s direction for your life? Have you been reading your Bible to see what God has to say to you? Have you been living in obedience to him? Have you bothered to drag your lazy butt out of bed on Sunday morning and pay your respects to the Lord at a Bible-believing church?
If your honest answer to the above questions is “No,” then you have no one but yourself to blame for whatever condition your life is in. If you insist on running your own life, God is under no obligation to bless you.
If you ignore God, reject his instructions, and then your life sucks - how can you blame God? If you had listened to him in the first place, you wouldn't be stuck where you are now.
If you are tired of the dead-end, hopeless road you are traveling, why don't you consider the possibility of making a change in management? Face the facts, buster -- you're not doing such a hot job of doing things your own way.
“My hand has made both earth and skies, and they are mine. Yet I will look with pity on the man who has a humble and a contrite heart, who trembles at my word." But those who choose their own ways, delighting in their sins, are cursed. God will not accept their offerings.
Isaiah 66:2-3 (Living Bible)
Let go of your stubborn pride, and ask God to take control of your life. He wants you to offer your life to him — and let’s face it, without the grace of God, you wouldn’t be able to draw your next breath anyway. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
God has reached out to you with the ultimate act of love: the sacrifice of Jesus’ life on a cross, a sacrifice given so that you could have an opportunity to join God’s family. All God really wants you to do is surrender to him.
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13 (Living Bible)
A simple prayer like this is all you need to begin your new life:
“Dear Jesus, I am asking you into my life right now. I have lived my life without you for long enough. Please forgive me for all the wrong things I’ve done. Help me to live a life that pleases you. I want to put you in charge of my life from now on. Lord, help me to trust you. Help me to follow you. Thank you for dying for me, and thank you for saving me in answer to this prayer today.”
Once you have given your life
to God, through faith in Jesus Christ, you will need to find
companionship with other believers who can help you grow in faith and
understanding. As a baby Christian, freshly born again, you will have a
lot to learn.
The Lord is good and glad to teach the proper path to all who have gone astray; he will teach the ways that are right and best to those who humbly turn to him.
Psalm 25:8-9 (Living Bible)
Please don’t let anyone mislead you. You will still face problems and trials. But you will be heading in the right direction. Jesus will correct you when you stray off course, and he will guide you to your destiny. When you follow God, he ensures your ultimate success.
The Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says: "I am the Lord your God, who punishes you for your own good and leads you along the paths that you should follow."
Isaiah 48:17 (Living Bible)
Remember the promises President Obama made about his "affordable" health care reform?
Remember how he said we would all save $2500 per year on our premiums? Obama also promised, “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what.”
Our president scores four noses on the Pinocchio scale in just that one paragraph!
Michelle Malkin posted a column recently (Obama Lied, My Health Plan Died)
detailing the loss of her family's personal health insurance coverage.
She also gives a few examples of the many tweets being posted around the
country by people who have shared her experience:
Linda Deright posted her letter from Regency of Washington state: “63 percent jump, old policy of 15 yrs. cancelled.” Karen J. Dugan wrote: “Received same notice from Blue Shield CA for our small business. Driven into exchange and no info since online site is down.” Chris Birk wrote: “Got notice from BCBS that my current health plan is not ACA compliant. New plan 2x as costly for worse coverage.” Small-business owner Villi Wilson posted his letter from HMSA Blue Cross Blue Shield canceling his individual plan and added: “I thought Obama said if I like my health care plan I can keep my health care plan.”
Millions of Americans are losing their coverage. Millions more have experienced the sticker shock of 50% to 100% increases in their premium rates.
However, the steepest hikes to our insurance costs have been slipped in under the radar. In preparation for the sky-rocketing expense of Obamacare, health insurance companies have been ratcheting up the out-of-pocket expenses to policy-holders.
In addition to a steep rise in the deductible threshold, most health insurance policies have DOUBLED the out-of-pocket maximum limits in the past year.
Last year it cost me $6,000 to hit the max on my out-of-pocket expenses. In 2013 I maxed out again, but this time it cost me $12,000.
In just one year, I am $6,000 poorer because of Barack Obama.
I am not alone. Millions of Americans are already suffering because of the so-called Affordable Care Act. I am personally
acquainted with several people who are paying $10,000 to $12,000 in
out-of-pocket expenses for medical bills this year.
It used to be that people held community fund-raisers if they had no insurance and needed help to pay their medical bills. Now people WITH insurance are fund-raising because they cannot afford their maximum out-of-pocket expenses.
I have to wonder: How many of the people struggling with their medical bills this year supported Barack Obama in 2012? I would really like to know, because a vote for Obama in 2012 was essentially a vote for Obamacare.
I hate to sound so snarky, but if you helped to elect this Socialist President of ours, I will have a hard time ginning up any sympathy for you when you can't pay your medical bills. Elections have consequences, and you are getting exactly what you voted for.
The media crucified Ted Cruz and Tea Party Republicans for their recent efforts to de-fund Obamacare and pull the plug on this disaster. The de-fund effort failed, and now we can all see the results.
Every catastrophic prediction made about Obamacare is coming true right before our eyes.
So how is that "hope and change" thing working for you now?
While visiting with a friend recently, I happened to catch an episode of Deadly Women that he was watching on cable TV.
During the course of the program, there were several different crime stories about women who had committed horrible murders and were later caught and imprisoned.
The last segment of the show told the story of a psychotic young woman who had destroyed two innocent lives. One night, during a burglary and home invasion, she and her boyfriend burst into the bedroom of an elderly married couple and murdered them with a pick-axe. A detective who was interviewed on the program described it as the most gruesome murder scene he had ever encountered.
Police investigators later got a break in the case thanks to the female killer's cold-blooded bragging. Sometime shortly after the murders, she was at a local bar, getting drunk and desiring to impress her companions. She wanted them to know how tough she was, so she told them about how she had used a pick-axe to impale a couple who was sleeping in bed. Someone in the group tipped off the police, and psycho-killer-girl was soon arrested.
The woman was convicted and sentenced to death. No surprise there. But something truly incredible happened while she was in prison awaiting her execution. Psycho-killer-girl met merciful-loving-God.
On death row, with plenty of time on her hands, the former drug addict and prostitute started reading the Bible. One lonely dark night, her heart broken with remorse, she humbly surrendered her life to Jesus Christ and asked him to forgive her.
In response to that invitation, Jesus introduced himself to that miserable repentant sinner and gave her what he offers to every one of us: the unmerited gift of forgiveness and eternal life. In that moment, she was redeemed. She became a new creation. She was born again as a child of God
Several employees at the prison were interviewed for the program, and all of them testified to the dramatic turn-around in this young woman's life. Practically overnight, she went from being a dangerous, confrontational inmate to behaving like a model prisoner.
Everyone who knew her was amazed at the transformation. It got to the point where other prisoners on death-row were allowed to meet with her to attend Bible study. Even the guards came to regard her with genuine affection. Some of them admitted to crying on the day she was executed.
After her conversion, this redeemed convict admitted to her crimes, and apologized to the court and the victims' family. She accepted her death sentence as just. She testified to anyone who would listen about the boundless grace and love that Jesus Christ had extended to her. She was ready to die.
On her final day, as she was being strapped down to the table to receive her lethal injections, she was praying, praising God, and singing hymns. She had no fear of death, because she knew that she belonged to the Good Shepherd who had conquered death on the cross of Calvary.
Stories like this are a reminder to us all that God is no respecter of persons. Jesus died for sinners. That includes you and me and everybody else.
No sin is so great, no pit is so deep, no life is so lost, that the love of Jesus cannot rescue. If you have ever swallowed the devil's lie that you are so wicked as to be beyond the mercy of God, you have been deceived.
"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:21-24 NIV)
President Obama is fond of comparing himself to great men in history, such as Lincoln, FDR, and on more than one occasion, Ronald Reagan.
Obama has stated that he would like to go down in history as a transformative leader like Reagan. A noble aspiration, to be sure, but Obama has forgotten that last portion of his oath of office where he swore to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Among his many admirable attributes, President Reagan had a profound respect for our Constitution and the rule of law. When Reagan wanted to accomplish a policy goal, he cajoled, negotiated and pressured Congress to work with him to make it happen. If, as was often the case, too many Democrats in Congress opposed his initiative, Reagan would simply go over their heads and appeal directly to the American people.
Reagan trusted the people to understand the worthiness of his ideas, and to apply sufficient pressure to their representatives to help push his agenda through Congress.
And it worked. That's why they called it the "Reagan Revolution." Reagan presented his ideas to the American people, and he persuaded them to support his agenda.
Reagan was dubbed "the great communicator" and rightfully so. Reagan used his bully pulpit to do what presidents are supposed to do, which is lead by persuasion.
President Obama is working on a revolution of a different kind. Unlike Reagan, Obama has repeatedly demonstrated his disdain for the Constitution and contempt for the rule of law.
President Obama prefers to rule by executive fiat. He weaves and dodges around the Constitution every chance he gets. Obama cherry-picks the laws he wants to enforce, and ignores the laws that "get in his way."
After cramming Obamacare down our throats, over the objections of a majority of voters, President Obama began granting waivers to selected union supporters and companies owned by dependable Democratic campaign contributors. There was no authorization in the law for waivers to anyone. Obama just did it, and he got away with it.
Recently, Obama decided to unilaterally waive Obamacare’s cap on annual out-of-pocket expenses for another year. This exemption for selected health insurers is not allowed for in the law as written, but again, our current president just makes it up as he goes - and gets away with it again.
Obama's favorite play is the "end-run-around-Congress" and so far it is working out well for him. (For the rest of us, not so much.)
Can't get Congress to pass a carbon tax that will shut down coal-fired power plants and cause electricity rates to skyrocket? Instruct the EPA to classify carbon-dioxide as a hazardous waste and regulate it without the approval of Congress.
Can't get Congress to pass the DREAM act? No problem, simply order the Justice Department to ignore enforcement of immigration laws. When your name is Barack Obama, the rules don't apply to you!
Obama's contempt for the rule of law is well documented. Unfortunately, you won't read about it in most of the national media outlets, since they are only interested in scandals that involve conservatives or Republicans. Can you imagine the outcry if the NSA snooping scandal or the Benghazi cover-up had occurred during President Bush's term?
My fear is that President Obama's real legacy will survive to haunt us for many generations to come.
He has established a dangerous precedent, at least for future liberal Democrats elected to the Presidency: You are above the law. Make the rules up as you go. Congress will not constrain your lust for power. The media will not hold you accountable. You don't need no stinkin' Constitution.
Since the limits on power specified by the Constitution are pretty much the only things that prevent a president from becoming a dictator, shouldn't we common folks be a little more motivated towards protecting our Constitution from abuse?
Barack Obama will never be another Ronald Reagan. To the contrary, he is the closest thing to a tyrant we have ever had.
He has become our first lawless president.
A final round of funeral services was held yesterday for the last of the victims of last week's killing spree at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
This attack was so heinous and senseless that it defies any rational explanation. What snaps inside a human being to bring him to perform such a depraved, evil act? I doubt anyone can answer that question.
Twenty families were forced to live every parent's worst nightmare: receiving the news that their child had been murdered. Six adults at the school were also killed by the deranged gunman.
This is a senseless crime that forces each of us to take stock of our priorities. It reminds us that life is a fragile gift. It should cause us to hold our children a little closer, and to more earnestly appreciate the blessing of having our loved ones alive, healthy and near to us.
The people of Newtown need our prayers for healing, for comfort, and for the capacity to forgive and move on. The residents of this community have been emotionally shattered, and many of of them will never fully recover.
I cannot imagine how they must feel. I wish these wounded people could be left in peace to deal with the awful sorrow they must bear. I wish the liberal media would leave them alone, instead of using them as political pawns to advance another round of attacks on the Second Amendment.
American leftists are playing their usual game of "never wasting a crisis." They are callously exploiting the nation's grief over the Sandy Hook massacre to advance their anti-gun political agenda while people's emotions are raw.
It is important to remain logical and remember that it was a sick, evil person who killed those innocent victims.
It was a madman who murdered those children; a young man who was deeply mentally disturbed, and somehow failed to receive the psychiatric help he needed that might have prevented this awful tragedy.
Restricting the constitutional rights of law-abiding American citizens will not bring back the victims of Sandy Hook, nor will it prevent future madmen from committing terrible crimes.
Better processes for diagnosing and treating the mentally ill might have made a difference in this instance. A few trained and armed staff members at the school could have radically changed the outcome of this attack.
We live in a fallen world. There will always be evil people with evil intentions. We all need to take responsibility for preparing to defend ourselves against unexpected threats.
The police cannot be everywhere. As long as there are sinful people with murderous notions, there will be occasions when a law-abiding armed citizen may be all that stands between an innocent victim and a deranged attacker.
I wish this were not so. I wish we could just declare every public area a gun-free zone and know that our children would be safe. Unfortunately, this is a dangerous delusion that leaves law-abiding citizens defenseless against criminals who will always be armed.
A person intent on evil does not respect gun laws, or gun-free zones. All a gun-free zone does is advertise to criminals - "Come on in! We are defenseless here."
Again, I wish this were not so. I wish we lived in a kinder, gentler world. But we have to contend with the sad reality that there will always be evil perpetrators in this world, and they must be opposed with force.
It is important that we understand and acknowledge hard truths, such as this simple fact recently declared by National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."
I've had better days...and way better birthdays...but all has ended well, and I am thankful for that!
A gut-wrenching pain on the left side of my abdomen had me feeling pretty queasy as I laid around the house on the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving. Later that evening my mind finally opened the email that my body had been sending all day long: "Go to the hospital!"
Please allow me to share some observations I made during this experience.
1. ER personnel don't give you much respect when you show up with a tummy ache on the day after Thanksgiving.
2. Apparently the medical staff uses a tag-team approach to weed out bogus stories from patients who may be "faking it" to get pain medications.
3. If you can successfully give a consistent detailed account of your symptoms, and circumstances, to at least five different inquisitors, eventually someone will start to believe you might be legit and order some kind of test.
4. I'm not sure how all the staff at the ER gets to work every night, since few of them appeared old enough to hold a driver's license.
5. I do not understand how the stuff they make you drink for a CAT scan does any good since I truly believe I peed it out as fast as I drank it.
6. ALWAYS make sure you know where the bathroom is when they move you to a new location.
7. I wish everything in my life was as easy as getting a CAT scan.
8. After the doctor gets test results showing that your gall bladder is a hideous, oozing, swollen, infected time-bomb, you get a lot more street cred with the ER crowd. AND you finally get your pain meds!
9. Once you get your pain meds, life is beautiful.
10. You sure have to sign a lot of papers in the hospital.
11. My wife is going to have to jump through a lot of hoops at home to continue giving me the same level of TLC I received from the nursing staff. The challenge will be good for her.
12. I started to get concerned as I was being prepped for surgery, because every time they moved me to a new location nobody knew what was going on. They all kept asking me who I was and what I was there for. Shouldn't they know? 60 Minutes should investigate this.
13. Everybody wanted to know when my birthday was, but nobody bothered to get me a present or a piece of cake.
14. I could have enjoyed my nap after surgery more if nurses had stopped waking me up all the time.
15. Hospital food is a lot better these days, at least at St. Francis.
16. I want a set of those leg-squeezing massage things to take home.
17. I don't care how many cable channels there are, there is still nothing to watch at 3 a.m.
18. It is a lot more fun getting ready to go home if the doctor isn't telling you about something else that showed up on your CAT scan.
19. I suppose it really is good news that they happened to see a teeny spot in my bladder, since whatever it may be is small and easy to deal with.
20. When the doctor says, "They'll just slip a scope up your urinary tract and take care of that little problem," with a calm reassuring smile, it still makes me pucker up.
21. The colonoscopy they've been nagging me about for 8 years seems a lot less intimidating now.
22. The only way to truly keep yourself from lifting more than 15 pounds after surgery is to have your arms strapped to your side and walk around like a mummy for 14 days. You cannot make yourself remember not to pick things up. It is just too automatic.
23. While recuperating at home after gall bladder surgery, avoid watching old re-runs of "Everybody Loves Raymond" - especially if it is an episode you haven't seen before.
The meaning of life?
That question has kept philosophers busy for centuries. Lots of people think they have an answer. The world is full of religious ideas and "feel good" pop psychology.
Humanists will tell you that you're here to please yourself - that man is the ultimate authority - that there is no God to be bothered with.
You can hobnob with spiritualists who will channel for you and introduce you to a "familiar spirit" who will guide you into supernatural knowledge. (More about this in the next issue of Demonic Deceptions Monthly).
You can join the Hollywood elite in Transcendental Meditation and spend hours contemplating your "divine nature" while chanting something deep and enlightening like "om."
You can join a cult (take your pick) and have some con-man turn your mind to mush while he cleans out your 401k.
WHAT MOST OF US DO
Or you could do what most people in America do. Shrug the whole thing off as "unknowable" and muddle through your life without a clue. This is a sad and empty way to live. Trust me, I know. I did it for 25 years.
If you haven't found your way to God's acquaintance yet, then you know what that empty feeling is. That feeling of wondering why you are here. The nagging ache that reminds you, in quiet moments, that you don't really know where you belong. The longing for some peace and assurance that there is purpose and meaning in this existence.
And most tragically, you could be one of the many people who come to the end of life, frightened and alone, and regretting the waste of it. How many people die without the assurance of heaven, and pass unto death fearful (and rightly so) of the unknown destiny that awaits them? How many people die without ever really knowing why they lived?
SOMETHING IS MISSING
Yet even in our spiritual darkness, we sense that something is missing. We observe the wonders of nature. We experience the passions of love. We marvel at the birth of a child. Experiences like these hint to us that there is more to life than this purely physical dimension. Most of us intuitively realize that there is a force beyond our understanding; a designer who holds the universe in order.
And this force, this designer, is the Almighty God who loves us! He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the creator of all that is. And he has been planning since the beginning of time to bring each one of us into his eternal family. He has a purpose for every human life he created.
Even yours.
The Bible teaches us that we are God's special creation, made in his image. But because of Adam's rebellion, spiritual death came upon the human race. As a result, we are born spiritually blind. We are too selfish to live peacefully in this life; we are totally unfit for paradise. We cannot know God or comprehend his goodness and power.
That is why Jesus came. That is why he had to die. As God, he could offer the perfect sacrifice that would open the gates of heaven for us. His death paid the penalty for our sin. His later resurrection is our proof that he has the power to grant eternal life to all who will follow him.
As a man, he could show us how to live in the power of God's spirit. His life has introduced us to the living God whom we are too blind too see.
Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God's love. From his actions we can clearly see how much God loves us. From his teachings, we can begin to understand what God wants from us.
WHAT GOD REALLY WANTS
All God really wants you to do is give up. As in surrender. Give up your stubborn pride and admit that God is bigger than you. Admit that he ultimately is in control of all you have. Give up your life to him. Ask him to come into your heart and show you how to live. Admit that you have sinned against him (as have we all) and ask him to forgive you.
When you do this, wonderful things begin to happen. You are born again. God's spirit comes to live inside of you, and that aching emptiness disappears. You will have passed from spiritual death to eternal life!
If you're honest enough to look inside of yourself and admit that you need God, then you can ask him into your life right now with a prayer like this:
"God, I have my doubts. Please heal my unbelief. I know I don't deserve your mercy, and I've spent my life sinning against you. Dear Jesus, I ask you to forgive me, cleanse me and make me whole. I want to know your love and your friendship. I want your love to fill the emptiness in my soul. I give you my life today, Lord, and I ask you to take me into your family. I want to live my life doing what you created me to do. I want to know that I am destined for heaven."
If you have given your heart to Jesus just now, you are a brand new creation, a new citizen of God's kingdom, and you have begun a wonderful new journey into eternal life. You need to find a friend who knows the Lord. He or she will be glad to help you understand the awesome gift you have just received.
Your friend will help introduce you to the Bible and help you discover the friendship of fellow believers in a good church. Welcome to God's family!
The old joke goes something like this: One evening at the country club, a wealthy old codger propositions a sweet young thing sitting at the bar.
He asks, "Would you sleep with me tonight for a million dollars?"
"Okay," replies the sweet young thing, "where would you like to go?"
"I'm not sure," he answers. "First I have to ask -- how about sleeping with me tonight for a hundred dollars?"
"Absolutely not!" she retorts in a huff. "Just what kind of girl do you think I am?"
The old man smiled. "We've already established that, my dear. Now we are just negotiating the price."
In recent political conversations with a number of liberal acquaintances, I have noticed a disturbing pattern. None of them cares to discuss the facts or the figures concerning the budget woes our country faces.
What they want to talk about is what the government owes them. They rail against the stingy Republicans who want to cut back on the entitlements promised to them by the generous, compassionate Democrats. (Of course, they never stop to consider how easy it is for the Democrats to spend someone else's money.)
One young man flatly stated that he supported Obama because of the Obamacare mandate that young adults could stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26. That was an important benefit for him.
I asked him at what age people should be expected to grow up and fend for themselves. Why not extend the age limit to 30? Why not 40? Why not stay on your parents' insurance until they keel over?
He had no answer. All he knew is that he wanted whatever he could get, and Obama was the one who would give it to him.
Another friend told me he didn't care about the deficit, he just wanted what he had coming to him in government benefits.
When you talk to people on the dole (or those who hope to be) there is no political issue, other than entitlements, that concerns them. They don't care about our military readiness, the defense of our borders, the disintegration of American family life, or the threat to our individual liberties from the ever-expanding control of our government.
All they care about is that the Democrats promise to keep the gravy train rolling, and they want to be sure they are at the station when it arrives.
From conversations like these, one might reasonably conclude that Democrats expand their political power by their willingness to confiscate money from people who work, and then use those funds to buy votes from the people who want to collect benefits.
How can we ever put a stop to this madness? How do you win an election against Santa Claus?
We are now in a situation where almost 50% of the voting-age population pays no federal income tax. Even worse, over 50% of the population receives some form of government hand-out.
Every pitch the Democrats make is a give-away to some special interest group. To the Latinos, they promise amnesty and welfare. To the gays, they promise same-sex marriage with all of the attached tax benefits. To low-income groups, they promise increasing unemployment benefits and food stamps. To women they promise government-sponsored abortion and contraceptive services. To government union employees, they promise continued exorbitant pension plans.
And who can forget the video of that whacked-out protester screeching about her Obama-phone?
Never mind the detrimental consequences of these promises. Never mind that we cannot afford all of this. Never mind that we are now borrowing 40 cents of every dollar the government spends. Never mind that we are condemning our children to national bankruptcy.
None of that mattered to the liberal voters in 2012.
The Democrats have successfully created an electoral majority of moochers who have traded their liberty for the promise of a government hand-out. The "fundamental transformation" of America has begun. Our democratic
republic is fast becoming a socialist nanny-state.
And that (along with the support of a lapdog media that covered his butt at every turn) is how President Barack Obama got himself re-elected.
One thing the Democratic Party is wildly successful at is demonizing the opposition. Conservatives like me are routinely portrayed by the media as heartless extremists who want to starve school-children, keep women barefoot and pregnant, and push little old ladies over a cliff.
Why otherwise intelligent people believe this mystifies me. But we are creatures of habit, and if a big lie is repeated often enough, it becomes believable.
Sometimes we even vote out of habit. After several recent conversations with life-long Democrat friends, I have come to the conclusion that there are a lot of them who automatically vote for Democrats in every election without ever giving it a second thought.
Does this describe you? Don't worry, there is hope! Take the following simple quiz to find out what kind of American you are. You may discover that you really do have a choice.
1. The answer for every problem in American society is to create another government agency and borrow more money from China to pay for it. T F
2. The United States will be safer from threats by Communist dictatorships and rogue terrorist states if we slash our military defense budget and unilaterally cut our nuclear missile defense by 90%. T F
3. The best way to build a strong economy is for the government to gain more control over private businesses, and to keep printing billions and billions more dollars of paper money. T F
4. The Constitution is old-fashioned and out of date, and it prevents our government officials from creating the regulations needed to control us. T F
5. The best way to create strong, stable families is to promote homosexual marriage and provide government-funded abortions to teenage girls without their parents' consent. T F
6. Individual liberty is over-rated. We should learn to behave as we are instructed, and allow unelected government bureaucrats to decide what is best for us. T F
7. The best way to conduct honest elections is to let anybody who shows up at a polling place cast a ballot without having to prove who they are, which also allows them to vote at as many polling places as possible on election day. T F
8. Rich people are evil. Anyone who is successful must have stolen it from someone else, so the government should be encouraged to confiscate as much of their wealth as possible. T F
9. There is no God. The state is our ultimate authority. The only rights we have as citizens are whatever privileges the state decides to grant to us. T F
10. No one is responsible for themselves. The government should provide young women with contraceptives; food stamp recipients with cell phones; and those out of work with 2 years of unemployment benefits. T F
11. Congress is too powerful. If the President cannot ram his unpopular agenda through Congress, he has the right to simply issue an executive order and bypass the legislative branch of government. T F
12. It doesn't matter if our country goes bankrupt, as long as we get all we can. The future is our kids' problem. T F
Now check your answers:
9 or more TRUE answers: You must be a Democrat. You are just the kind of voter that welfare-state politicians drool over. You have my sympathy.
5 to 9 TRUE answers: You are either lost in the '60s, or you are just too young to know better.
1 to 5 TRUE answers: You are getting closer to the light. There is hope for you.
0 TRUE answers: Congratulations! You are a responsible conservative citizen with your head screwed on straight. And if you answered FALSE to all these questions, why would you even think about voting for Barack Obama?
Once again my favorite pundit, Thomas Sowell, pokes holes in some political myths about the poor. READ MORE
