Uncle Sam wants you to foot the bill-cause he's broke.

This country was founded to escape big government and yet we have the biggest government ever. I read about so many people who want to blame Bush, Obama, or Clinton. Or say it's congress' fault. It's black verses white, republican verses democrat. The bottom line is it's all politicians fault and when you get down to it, the blame lies with the people. We put the idiots in office that have run our country into financial ruin.

We blame the government for horrible money management but that is the kettle and pot game if there ever was one. Our country is full of people who can't control their spending habits and we want to blame the government for doing the same. Technically we are the government. We have forgotten that. We want government to change their ways but we are not willing to do the same in our own personal lives. No one takes responsibility for their actions. "I can't pay my mortgage." Then perhaps you should not have purchased that nice a house! I'm just saying what Dave Ramsey, Peter Schiff, and others are saying. Not everyone deserves to live in a house. I'm not for classes but some people work harder than others, some save better than others and diligence is rewarded.

Unfortunately we will have to pay the price for other peoples mistakes. Including the Government. That is unless you want to move to another country. Although preceding government administrations got us in the hole I can guarantee you this: HOPE and CHANGE does NOT come by increasing the national debt by 2.9trillion and raising taxes 1.1 Trillion. I don't care who is in office or who put them there, that is criminal. How do you expect to get more money from people who don't have it? The IRS is going to be busier than ever tracking down all the people who are not paying taxes because they needed to eat instead.

My question is, what are we going to do about it? Scott Brown is proof that we can have a say. Washington is proof we haven't said enough.

What are you going to do?

This country is in a downward spiral and I quite frankly feel very helpless. Our country was designed to be run by the people and if anyone thinks that is still the case you are sadly mistaken. You might respond that WE put people in office to make the decisions but that is not completely true. We put only the people who are presented to us in office. The way to get elected is with money. If you have enough money to run a campaign for office then you can get elected. Problem is, money is not free. The people who contribute to your campaign will at some point call in a favor for their generosity. One that you may not want to oblige but have no choice.

Every day politicians are bought out. For instance, on the house vote for the health care reform bill which no self thinking American would want, money helped turn the vote. In an article on Fox news Republican Jim Costa was convinced to vote for the bill. How? Read this excerpt.

To get as far as the bill did so far, it appears the administration might have spread some money around. California Rep. Jim Costa was wavering but told a local newspaper last week that his vote could be contingent on getting some federal money for a new medical school in his district along with help for local hospitals.
When a constituent named Bob Smittcamp e-mailed him to complain about his vote for the House bill, the congressman explained he'd been offered the dollars he was looking for -- $128 million in federal money.
"He responded to me by basically saying that he did not like many of the elements there were in the legislation. However, he was able to procure $128m for the University of California medical school in Merced," Smittcamp told Fox News.

You can't tell me we have a significant level of control over what happens to our country. We are on the way down. In more ways than one. How in a country where a Muslim army captain kills over a dozen people is it still acceptable to be a Muslim but not a Christian. Christians are hated because we denounce homosexuality, among other things. Guess what folks, Muslims HATE homosexuals. And they kill people for not believing exactly the way they do.

Our economy is crumbling too. Unemployment, true numbers, are up to almost 20% and rising. And the government can't figure it out. Even after all that stimulus money we still have rising job loss. Maybe it's because they want to keep lending money to people who can't pay it back. The reason we are in trouble is because of debt and yet the governments answer is more debt. What?

We are on the way to our knees as a country. You won't hear that on our news channels or in our papers. You WILL hear it from other people around the world and some blogs and youtube in our country but almost never from main stream media. How is it that hundreds of thousands of conservative people march on Washington and it hardly gets a blip on the news but 50 people show up for a pro gay rally and it's the number one spot on every network news broadcast?

I know that the bottom line is our country has turned it's back on God, but this post is not like most of my others which have to do with biblical perspective. I'm angry. Our lifestyle is being taken away from us. The way I see it is we have two choices. Fight or Flight. To be honest I don't know that it's a battle that can be won. I hope it is but I have very little confidence in the people of this country who so foolishly put a (fill in the blank) like Obama in office when they had facts about his beliefs and lack of experience. Bush had a whole set of his own problems but nothing he did will ever compare to what this administration is going to do to our country and we can do nothing about it for 3 more years. It may be too late by that point. I will not fight for something I do not believe in and while I am not a citizen of this world but heaven, I still have to live here until God takes me home. We have to fight while we can but at some point we may have to make a hard decision.

In closing, to those who would say that Christians are to be passive and live in peace where they are, I have a question for you. Do you think this country was established and kept in tact by passive people? Christians and non-Christians alike gave their lives for the freedoms we have that are being taken away. So what are you going to do to ensure that this country is the best place on planet earth to live? I'm not sure I know the answer to that yet but I can assure you that I will figure it out, and soon!

Skeptics Think Before Pressing Send

There seems to be a trend, especially with folks over the age of 55, that anytime they read something especially online, they accept it as factual. I was raised to trust people by their word but as I have grown older I have come to the realization that it is best to be somewhat skeptical of everything I hear and read. This should even hold true in the realm of preaching and spiritual matters.

Before you call me untrusting and cynical hear me out. You should always make sure that what you read or hear is truthful. Believe it or not even preachers and teachers don't always say the truth. It may even be unintentional.

Two examples: My pastor stood up and said that he accidentally attributed a quote to the wrong person in a previous sermon. He was very bothered that he had done that and I respect him for making the correction. However, there is undoubtedly someone who didn't hear the correction and passed on the incorrect information. His mistake was not intentional. On the other hand we had a guest speaker who on the topic of stewardship said that "we borrow for everything else in our life so why not borrow for church projects". Um, maybe because the scripture is clear about not being in debt? Running out to get loans is not a desirable course of action. There is a difference in these two examples but they were both inaccurate and if you accepted either one of them without validating if they are true then you are passing along a fallacy.

The most glaring example of this and my biggest frustration is with emails. The generation I mentioned earlier could benefit from a healthy dose of skepticism. Just because it comes through in an email does not mean that it is true, especially if it has been forwarded. Amazing pictures you see are more often than not, very much fake. I know, I work in a program called Photoshop and I can make you think that what you see is real even if it is physically impossible. Emails about Obama eating a baby kitten are most likely not true. (Extreme example I know but you get the point)

I implore everyone young and old, check up on those emails before you send them. SNOPES.COM has put many of these emails to rest as lies. Chances are the email you are about to forward has been around for years and has been proven false. Be a little skeptical for a change. Even when hearing a sermon you should check the Word of God to make sure what is said is truth. It doesn't matter if the information you receive is delivered wrong on purpose or by accident. We all have done it ourselves without knowing it but I fear we have become so overly trusting that we accept everything we see on the news, in the paper and online as accurate and worth repeating. It's often not totally accurate and being partially right is completely wrong!

Check it before you send it or say it. Please. :)

Be Prepared

No one would argue that our economy is in bad shape. There are many financial leaders who are warning of major inflation and economic meltdown. However it doesn't seem people are doing much about it.

We live in a country now where our money is not worth much more than the pack of bills you find in your monopoly game. China is buying gold at an unprecedented rate and telling their people to buy silver as investments. 1/3 of our debt is owned by China and we have a national debt in the trillions. These are just a few points to show signs of a coming collapse.

Our problem is pretty simple actually and it is interesting how the national cancer that is eating us alive is the same cancer that has and is ruining the lives of millions of Americans. DEBT. We pay for things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't know. The people did it with credit cards backed by the banking system, the government did it through the Federal Reserve. Money from thin air with no basis for value. Our banking system put us in this situation.

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." - Henry Ford

To go all the way, greed is the core problem. We have forgotten how to live within our means. We are a consumer based, importer country making us extremely vulnerable and we are getting ready to take a blow below the belt and hit the floor.

Don't believe me? Ask some people who know. Peter Schiff who predicted the collapse of the housing and banking markets knows. People laughed at him in 2006 and 2007 when he painted a gloomy picture. Now you can see for yourself on YouTube that Peter Schiff was right. Watch what he has to say now about the future in a non-biased european TV interview.

In addition to Schiff and Ron Paul proclaiming warnings Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Group is just as open about the continuing financial failure of not just the US but also the worlds economy. He also has had many interviews in the past predicting what has happened in the last year and a half and predicts how present trends will effect the future. It's not good!

So now I jump on the wagon because I believe that just as it has played out in my personal life, you can't borrow more than you can pay back and credit/debt not kept in check will destroy. Four years ago we eliminated all of our credit cards and only use cash. While I am not yet totally out of the hole we have had four years head start than most and started before things got so bad. I say this to state that while I am not the authority on the subject, I can see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's a train. A train that is blowing it's horn and saying "you better watch out and prepare". (I would encourage you to do some research yourself and find out the facts about our present economic situation)

We are looking at a bleak picture but we are here on this earth for such a time as this. If you are a follower of Christ like myself you realize this is just what Christ warned of in scripture. We have an opportunity to use these days for growing the kingdom. But we can't do that if we just sit by and don't respond in preparation.

A beggar can't give money to other beggars. Many Christians have the attitude that God will take care of them all the while not using the wisdom God has given us to help ourselves. Proverbs 6 speaks to being prepared as do other passages that instruct us to be wise with our possessions. Most people now can't imagine not having a grocery store with stocked shelves that they can go and purchase what ever they need. So there is little urgency to stock up since it can be accessed at any time. But what if you couldn't, or what if your $2 toothpaste was all of a sudden $6? And if the dollar bill in your pocket was only worth $.10, what are you going to do? How will you pay your bills? How will you eat? And this assumes you still have a job.

While as Christians our true home is in heaven, but if you go on a trip you are going to take supplies to survive and even enjoy that trip. You are on a journey here but God wants us to be wise. We see the pending crisis so do something about it. Again, I'm not the expert but I can give some advice that I am following myself and submit that you do the same. Even if nothing get's worse and we live in grand prosperity are you losing anything?

So what do we do? I have some simple suggestions. First, start a non-perishables supply. Here is a list of items that you might want to consider. If things get better and you don't have to have this supply to live then you will have less to buy later.

Secondly, get out of debt as soon as you can. Thirdly, make sure you have a way to protect yourself whether it's a bat, a knife or guns. If it's a gun make sure you have ammo. Why? Remember what happened after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans? You might find yourself needing to protect your assets. Fourthly, obtain some precious metals. Gold, silver, copper or the likes. You may find it to be worth more than your dollars in the near future.

And most of all have a plan. As Ben Franklin said, "By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail." Where do you want to be in three months financially? 6 months from now what do you want to have in your survival supply? Do you want to live where you are now? You should be thinking through all of these things. Don't spend your time energy and money on things you don't need. Make saving a priority.

Some may read my very lengthy post here and laugh at me just like they did to Peter Schiff and others may just discount my concern and advice as over-reactive. I can't do anything about that and believe me when I say that I hope I am wrong. But as H. Ruff said, "It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark." Don't wait until it's raining.

Sin-a very good definition

John Wesley asked his mother how to define sin to which his mother replied, " Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, what takes away your desire for spiritual things, in short if anything exceeds the authority and the power of the flesh over the spirit, that becomes sin however good it is in and of itself.

A High Calling

I have someone I admire very much. This person makes daily sacrifices to make my life better and easier. She gets honored once a year but that hardly seems adequate. She is not my mother but she is the mother of our two boys and I want anyone who ever reads this to know how much I admire her.

We live in a day where the stay at home Mom is often second class and certainly not considered to have a desirable position in life. While I am not against any woman who works a job outside the home and am understanding of those that try to do both, it is my belief that there is no higher calling on this earth than being a devoted full time mother.

Our world has lost an admiration for woman hood. Peter Kreeft professor of philosophy at Boston College in the book For Heavens Sake says "...we have a civilization that is in the midst of what Cal Stern called the Flight From Woman. We extol action over contemplation, doing over being, analysis over intuition, problems over mysteries, success over contentment, conquering over nurturing, the quick fix over life long commitment, the prostitute over the mother."

My wife gave up her own desires and a good career that paid good money to pour her daily life into two little boys. Our society has become selfish and my wife has chosen selflessness, many women want power and she chose meekness. others choose financial gain and she invests in eternity.

Raina, you should know that your are incredible, irreplaceable, you are beautiful and I am so glad you are my wife and the mother of our boys. I could not say it often enough that I am eternally grateful for the sacrifice you make every day (and in the middle of the nights) to make sure our home is filled with love and peace. NEVER think for a moment that what you do is anything less than a divine calling and more important than any amount of money you might be able to make in a job. Don't be discouraged on days when your patience and composure is tested by the little ones because your reward is GREAT! Proverbs 31:28

Bad Trade

My son was so excited about going to Disney World for his first time. We made the mistake of telling him we were going a week in advance which made life difficult as he tested our patience while he asked repeatedly if we can go to Disney World. " No son, not right now. We have 6 more days. 5 more days..."

Down the street from us is a 5 acre fun park with go carts putt-put and video games. Our not quite 3 year old in his limited understanding proposed in one of his inquiries as to when we were going to leave for Disney, a trade. "Can we go to Frankies Fun park now instead of Disney World?"

He knew nothing of Disney's vastness since he had never been there nor seen it in a picture. He was willing to trade a rinky-dink fun park for the mother of all fun parks for his immediate satisfaction.

It dawned on me that we are not all that different. We are willing to give up eternal reward and never ending bliss in exchange for immediate gratification here on earth. Just like Connor, we have never been to heaven nor have we seen pictures so we have no clue that we are trading such rubbish for mind blowing glory.

Are you trading up, or down?