A Time Of Renewal

Long before Christianity came along, midwinter festivals celebrating the winter solstice were popular. Pagan societies often thought they had to make a plea to the gods at this time of year so the gods would make spring come again. The Druids of Britain - and others - made gruesome human sacrifices to guarantee a fruitful harvest to come.

Christ became a living sacrifice for us, once and for all, removing the urge and need for a death ritual of appeasement to God. Yet the death ritual endures. Human hearts will have dark wickedness in them until the Last Day of Judgment. Yet, we are forgiven if we only ask for forgiveness. We start with our families,  making amends with them, and movimg outward. This is the meaning of Christmas.

God comes to - and through - those who are among the least of us in society. Mary and Joseph were poor. The King of Kings came for those in need. Rejoice if you are hurting and in poverty. Rejoice if you have been rejected by the world and human society.

Death is not an end, but a beginning. Rebirth and new life comes to those who die.

Conversely, take heed and be careful if you are rich and content. Give to those who are in need. Your abundance can be a trap if it makes you think you are superior to others, and you got where you are by your efforts alone.

We are alone, and there is no collective salvation. You came into this world naked and will leave it naked. Be ready to face your Creator and account for your deeds. A wonderful reward is yours if you've acted honorably.

Watch A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Or read his book. The pure and joyful message of Christmas never has been better told.

Have a very Merry Christmas, Chanukah, or other winter festival of renewal!

Inhuman Evil Surpasses All Understanding

The child killer of Connecticut is beyond evil. Look how his actions are polluting the whole world. In every nation people are reading and hearing about it, and have to stop and question themselves. Is someone I know capable of this? How can I protect my children?

The police say, "We haven't yet found a motive for the killings." There is no “motive”, as human beings understand motive. The Connecticut killer shot his mother in the face, and went on to murder the school principal and twenty children whom he didn't know. Then he killed himself. We can at least be grateful he killed himself, thereby sparing us a trial that would force us to talk about him for years. His acts are a quantum leap beyond all rational thought or discussion of motive or reason. Mental derangement alone can't explain mass killing like this.

Bashar al-Assad of Syria has killed about 40,000 of his own people in the last few years, mostly civilians. But he wants to hold onto his power; an understandable, though contemptible, motive. The Nazis, Communists, and Fascists of history had monetary and political/social scapegoating motives for their crimes. The Connecticut shooter is truly inhuman. He is Satanic, possessed by inhuman evil, beyond our understanding. Children are largely innocent, and as such, are an expression of God.  Killing them is like killing God. Satan can’t give life, as God does. He can only corrupt and kill, which he does gleefully.

No doubt you're hearing people say, “If he couldn’t have gotten a gun, those children wouldn’t be dead!” Yes, and if my drug addict friend couldn’t have gotten his heroin overdose, he wouldn’t be dead from heroin.
But you can’t eliminate these things without creating a police state. Even then, as in our prisons, criminals can get contraband of all kinds.

How easy it is for evil to cloak itself in righteousness. Did you see Obama shedding tears in front of the cameras yesterday? This man who endorses late-term abortion, where living babies are “eliminated” with scissors into the neck. And how about his Marxist economic policies that oppress us and guarantee millions will never have good jobs, economic freedom, and prosperity. As President Reagan famously said, “There is no freedom without economic freedom.”

In times of widespread, intensifying chaos, social upheaval, and psychopathology, the weak-minded and deranged blossom forth into Satanic manifestation like this Connecticut killer. These people are nurtured in the muck of negativity and desperation that ‘progressives’ foster in our society.

Here's a fact: The American cities with the strictest gun control laws, like New York, New Orleans, and Chicago, have the highest murder and violent crime rates by far. Those states and cities that allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons have the lowest murder and crime rates in America.

Now we’ll see a full-court press to further restrict freedom and liberty, starting with guns and metastasizing throughout all facets of life. There are over 300 million guns in America. How can they be found and disposed of? They cannot.

No, what we need are a lot more people packing them. Everywhere. So that every Satanic killer will be unsure of his/her safety.

Why won’t someone stand up and say,”Outlaw guns? Sure! That will solve it! What a good idea! While we’re at it, why not outlaw drugs, booze, and all crimes? That will do the trick.” So-called 'progressives' are responsible for most of our stupid laws, going back to 1900, and starting with prostitution.

Did Jesus or any of His Apostles call for strict laws? No. The greatest and most moral people who have ever lived look to God, not the State, for solutions. The State is a highly flawed mechanism; as likely to cause more evil as it is to correct it.

Have You Ever Run Out of Money?

It's a bad feeling, whether it's because your wallet is missing, you lost your job, or blew it all on a gambling binge. Well, it's a lot worse when you did it yourself by gambling, drinking, or trying to get a woman to love you. But reality must be faced in the real world by us individuals, and the awful consequences may teach us a valuable lesson on taking responsibility. Many great people have come back from such disasters, recouped their losses, and gained wisdom. It can be a very good thing in the end.

The same thing happens to entire nations occasionally. But when the money's gone, nations can mask the truth, print more money, and lie to their people and the world for a long time before the brick wall of reality hits them in the face. Saddest of all, the fomenting of lies and scapegoats can delay or derail the consequences, and the nation's people may never learn and profit from the grave error.

If children are never corrected, bad students never given a failing grade, or criminals not punished for their crimes, that's a green light that authority has broken down. Lawlessness and chaos inevitably follow; a terrible result for everyone.

Here is an indisputable fact: The United States, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and many other countries ran out of money quite a while ago. China and other global investors are now providing 46% of annual U.S. government expenditures. Germany has been paying just as much for Greece and other European Union countries, and there's no end in sight for all of them.

President Obama and his Democrat Party just announced that they have no intention whatsoever of curtailing U.S. spending, and they're demanding more; an unlimited end to their borrowing. The EU debtor countries also have said they cannot cut anymore, but their deficits increase.

How much longer can this go on? Paper money printing has covered up the grim reality for years, but at some point there will be so much paper money in circulation that it will lose most of its value. This is called hyper-inflation.

Sooner or later China, Germany, and other national creditors will have to shut off the money tap, or they will be dragged down with the bankrupts. They don't want to shut the tap because they are net-export countries, and world trade will grind to a halt. But they'll be forced to.

Why does this happen? People everywhere generally can't stand the truth. They create false stories and false personas for themselves and for their nations to make themselves feel better. Note that every time someone mentions a country or ethnic group they say, "They are a proud people!" Yes, almost everyone is "proud", and a lot of the time that feeling is based on nothing. Or based on a crime. The Nazis were proud, the Soviets were proud, and the slaveholders of the Old South were, too.

Many of our fellow humans seek to be like God, playing the generous benefactor or righteous leader to right all wrongs and fix the problems in the world. We cannot be or compete with God. It always created terrible tragedy.

The dreaded catastrophe is upon us.

Salvation Is For The Individual

It doesn't matter that the United States has committed suicide, or that our neighbors and friends have crossed over to the dark side - if you've done your best to warn and enlighten them. People have free will in this world, and will choose good or evil. That's the whole point and purpose of our being here. It's a testing ground, this world, and we have a chance to either shine or suck the life out of it, like a black hole.

Contrary to what Marxist/Progressives would have you believe, your real success in life and final salvation has nothing to do with society as a whole. The societal collective has no significance if you are a serious Judeo-Christian-Muslim-Buddhist-Hindu. The world is wayward, and will end according to Divine Plan. You are accountable to God only, and only God has real control over societies and nations. It's clear that God doesn't want equality of wealth, talent, ability, or opportunity. Jesus said, "For you have the poor with you always, but not me...", Matthew 26:11. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 proves that one of our tests in life is to make personal investment decisions in the spiritual realm, which is akin to the material realm. "As above, so below", all Scripture tells us.

So the Marxist/Progressive vision and mission of a uniform society is not godly, but against God. That is why these schemes always lead to misery, oppression, degradation, and collapse. Sadly, we just can't seem to learn the lesson of China, N. Korea, or the Soviet Union; and Marx, Lenin, Mao, Castro, and Che are 'cooler' than ever. 

We come into this world alone, and we leave alone to face our Creator after death. When our life is revealed to us in its entirety, the good and bad, we ourselves participate in our final judgment (you might love the film Defending Your Life, by Albert Brooks).

After we've left this world we have no choice but to compare and contrast our behavior with the perfection of God, and it's extremely humbling. As Dante says in his great work Inferno, many people willingly leap into hell. We all fall short of God's perfection, but we will also see how all the saints fell short, too. None of us can begin to equal God.

However, God loves us infinitely more than we can know. The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11) opens the door to salvation for all of us, no matter what we've done or failed to do. We just need to ask God for forgiveness. If you haven't done that yet, it's not too late to start. 

Communist Party Newspaper Celebrates Obama's Victory

The People's World writes that the forces of "progressivism" have just won a major victory.

Here's a link to article by Sam Webb, Head of the Communist Party USA, in People's World:

http://peoplesworld.org/democracy-comes-out-on-top-on-nov/

Congratulations, America! Your mortal enemy is celebrating your suicide and crowing about their resurrection. Now you don’t have to worry about your troublesome soul anymore; you know, the spirit of freedom and conscience with its bothersome moral compass, and two-hundred-and-thirty year record of accomplishment. It’s gone. Poof!

You’re free now! No worries, no duties, or responsibilities. The State will take care of you and guide you down the garden path to Utopia. That is, until it goes bankrupt just as the European Union has.

Just be sure to obey orders and don’t look behind the filthy, blood-stained curtains. Don’t trouble yourself about the strange cries, either. Especially if they are uttered by you, unintentionally, in the middle of the night.

America Commits Suicide

Surveying America's vast land and its insulation from foreign threats, Abraham Lincoln said, "...As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." 

The election has confirmed what some among us predicted, that hard work, liberty, and individual freedom are now frightening to many Americans; and that they would trade freedom for the security of a dictatorship promising benefits. Bondage to the State. Spiritual suicide. 

We committed suicide quite a while ago, apparently, with the 2008 election of Obama. The evidence has been there all along, but we couldn't see it.
 
Jesus was shown to the crowd. "The crowd yelled, "Crucify him!.... Give us Barabbas! We want Barabbas!"  This is what betrayal and crucifixion feels like. 

Obama said, "Voting is the best revenge", and vengeance has won.
 
The history of the United States  is over, unless God acts. Our nation will tear itself apart, and financial collapse will be the initial cause. America and the world are choosing evil.  Evil is victorious.


We won't recognize our country when Obama is finished transforming us into an arm of the EU and the UN.



Paper currencies will become worthless. Be sure to have real estate, gold, and silver.


Pray to God for protection.

Our Glorious Temples

From very earliest times, humankind has felt a need to consecrate certain places and take refuge in them; making them sanctuaries. Even very primitive societies made little shrines and objects for veneration, and certain spots - such as mountaintops - were felt to be special, sacred, or holy. Often temples were built there, and in many cases, these structures became the central focal point and expression of the very finest these societies could produce in art and technology. Nimrod's Tower of Babylon was one, as are the pyramids of Egypt, and the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis in Athens.

The Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, dedicated to God the Creator and His ethical monotheism, was the most honored in its time; even today it's the most controversial. The Temple was built of fine white stone and beams of cedar, massive amounts of gold and bronze, and decorated with fine fabrics and gems. Pilgrims from all over the known world came to worship. Its mere foundation, called the Wailing Wall today, has sparked wars. Both Jews and Muslims claim ownership of it. 

Sometimes temples are used to honor certain kings or ancestors, but more often they honor a god. It's a very natural thing to do. Even in our modern age we build monuments to our desires, achievements, or loves. Consider the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, the Space Needle in Seattle, and the Eiffel Tower.

Modern science is coming to realize that our brains are hardwired for worship, and it's critical to our survival.  Research is showing that we must believe in and venerate something; if not the One God, then a false god: love, money, power, or other material things. 

We humans can't help but recognize that great powers - natural or man-made - can toss us around like rag dolls. We hate feeling vulnerable and powerless.  Take a look at this: Human Beings Are Hardwired For Religion

It matters a great deal what god we believe in. Power and money worshipers have a shockingly bad track record, and they frequently self-destruct. The same is true of sex and drug devotees. 

Similarly, Utopian ideas such as Marxism, liberalism, and socialism have been enormously popular and destructive. Look at Europe today, and what similar policies have done to the United States. Bankruptcy is rife. No invention of humans can begin to replace our need and love for one True God. 

 

Have you seen the Temple of Liberalism/Socialism? It exists largely in our minds, but is very real, and it has nourished hundreds of disastrous political schemes and  false religions. It's crumbling now, and should be pulled down as soon as possible. Worshipers are still making offerings to it, giving everything they have, even their lives, in vain.

It stands on four pillars of belief that deceive worshipers:

 1) Pacifism: Wars are brought on by people preparing for war or national defense. Peace is the normal state of mankind and nature. If we disarm, others will too.

This is patently false. The world is and always has been a very violent place, as Charles Darwin proved. Do police provoke crime by driving their special cars, wearing uniforms, and carrying weapons? No. The opposite is true. Weakness invites criminality.

2) Fairness: Inequities between individuals caused by gender, different levels of talent, and ability are "unfair", so a powerful central government must be used to "level the playing field".

Taking the property of others is stealing, unless they agree to give. Life is not 'fair' as we perceive fairness. Many people don't mind being poor. This author enjoyed it for many years because it gives one a lot of free time. Plus, there are few serious responsibilities. 

Free peoples in a free society prove their worth and succeed in many ways we don't see or appreciate. God does see. Moreover, all attempts to engineer societies and outcomes have led to tyranny, collapse, and suffering. Both Red China and the old Soviet Union proved this.
 
3) Atheism/Agnosticism: Belief in God and religion is a mark of weakness and lack of intelligence  It is absurd and impossible that the world is unfolding according to a Divine Plan. Either God is an illusion or God is distant and inaccessible. Science and reason are supreme. Morals and any concept of salvation are decided by the majority, collectively. Therefore, a powerful central authority using science as its guide must be created to dictate personal/national/world events and outcomes. This is historically inevitable and "right".
 
Again, human political systems are not wise enough or rich enough to accomplish this. Governments playing god bring on catastrophe. Friedrich Nietzsche declared, "God is dead" in the late 19th Century. Then he committed suicide. The wayward European empires followed in 1914. 

4) Reparations: Ancient grievances never die, and old ethnic, religious, and cultural conflicts and injustices must be retroactively corrected. This is done by monetary and legal compensation. Centralized government must confiscate wealth from those who have, give it to the poor, and put "disadvantaged" peoples  ahead of the line for jobs and benefits. It's the Christian/Jewish/Muslim/Hindu thing to do, and is 'right'.

There is a statute of limitations for all grievances, and the aggrieved must learn to forgive the sins of others.

Religious people know that truly effective charity must come from individuals, as Jesus, Moses, and all other true prophets have told us. Again, governments are a necessary evil, and are like children playing with fire when they play god. 

The rotten and corrupt Temple of Liberalism/Socialism has to be demolished so that the new Temple of Solomon can be erected in its place. Scripture promises that it will be done, and we can assist God by remaining awake, and by helping others to see what's happening.

The World Is About To Be Transformed

Conflict in the world is escalating, and will transform our planet. This is all happening according to divine plan, which will remake and restore the world, eventually. 

From time immemorial humanity has been at war with itself, in a battle between individual rights and the elite rulers of nations. God is on the side of the individual, and wants each of us to have the freedom to prosper and seek Him. Good governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed, but they always tend toward corruption, abuse, and love of power. Left unchecked, they try to become godlike and oppress their citizens - a clear evil. King Nimrod of Babylon was the first to literally assault God from his tower with bow and arrow. 

The Pharaohs of Egypt were believed to be gods on earth when Moses - who was one of the elite ruling class - defected and led the Hebrew nation away from tyranny, and the deluded King Ramses.

Earthly power must never be given the same credibility as God's power. We must recognize the Creator, not the creation, as supreme.

There's little difference in spirit between Moses, Theseus of Greece,  Jesus and his Apostles, or the Founders of the United States. In each case, the battle with state authority claiming the Divine Right of Kings over individuals had to be defeated. Today, the technological state is claiming total dominion over humankind; a clear evil.

America is the last bastion of freedom in the world, the only nation capable of changing the course of human events; which are drifting toward totalitarian government and the complete subjugation of  individual freedom:

These prophetic words of David, in his Psalm 2, were written a 1,000 years before Christ:  "The kings of the earth [will] rise up, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and His anointed."  Only now, with technology, is such a thing possible. The pathetic King Nimrod of Babylon is alive and well in spirit.

The United States finds itself still intact because it was founded on individual freedom of religion, inalienable rights, the recognition of God's hand in world affairs, and the priceless inheritance of English Common Law; which sees the people - regardless of class or wealth - as sacrosanct. Those accused of crimes are presumed innocent, courts must prove guilt with solid evidence, and punishment must be proportionate to the crime. 

The conflict today is fierce, and getting fiercer. The outcome in the short term is far from certain. We've had many failures in our great struggles for liberation. But regardless of the outcome, the boundary line between earthly and divine authority must be drawn, and redrawn again. 

Abraham Lincoln said of this great war, "It is the eternal struggle between right and wrong throughout the world... It is the same spirit that says, 'You work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it.' No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle."  Lincoln knew we must fight and win a civil war in order to cleanse ourselves of the darkness, both within and without.

How can we tell when our leaders have reached the point of evil? They begin lying, and when caught, deny lying, and pile on more lies. History is rewritten to accommodate lies. Collapse always follows.

There's an election coming up in the U.S., on November 6, that will determine the future direction of world events. It marks the last possible point for America and the world to exit the highway to self-destruction.

The ruling political party in the U.S. has created an economic, ethical, legal, and foreign affairs fiasco of epic proportions. This party's philosophy is identical to the European Union's global socialist one - based on Karl Marx - that destroyed the old Soviet Union and is destroying the west daily. It creates a powerful central government that taxes producers heavily and redistributes wealth to many who are not productive. The result: reduced innovation, loss of productivity, slow or no growth, and burgeoning deficits. 

The E.U. monolith is imploding, and has only a little time left. But the ruling class in the U.S. - with the aid of a perfidious and craven media - is perpetuating the lie that everyone will prosper from their philosophy, eventually. Their track record is miserable. Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal are bankrupt. The United States is bankrupt as well, unless serious steps toward economic growth are taken. Meanwhile, the Democrat Party is saying only high taxes levied on the rich will save the nation. Class civil war is their tactic for re-election, borrowed from the oldest playbook in history, the one that denies and replaces God with the State. Karl Marx merely recycled it for 19th Century consumption.

The Marxist/Socialist tactic of blaming the rich for the suffering of the poor is as old as the Roman Republic, which collapsed over 2,000 years ago. The reason? Mark Antony whipped up the discontented mobs and started a class-based civil war. He lost, and Rome was forever afterword ruled by emperors. Individual freedom was lost.

It's happening again, now, in America. The ruling party is fomenting a civil conflict, the haves against the have-nots. Democrats have used this trick since Franklin Roosevelt ran in 1932 (despite the fact that he, John Kennedy, Al Gore, and John Kerry were and are all multi-millionaires).

Of the many lies told every day, one of the worst is taking us to the brink of world war. It is the lie that a short promotional clip of a film about Muhammed, produced by a no-talent hack in Los Angeles and aired on YouTube, has inflamed radicals in the Muslim world against the west. The ruling class in America has apologized profusely, arrested the film's maker, and promises to limit free speech in the future. This is the price that radical Muslims have demanded to stop their rioting, and is a complete fraud. They hate us for a thousand reasons, but chief among them is that we will never follow their Medieval Sharia Law.

Now it turns out this is a complete lie. Congressional testimony is proving that the recent attacks on consulates and killings of ambassadors and aides are planned al Qaeda attacks. The appeasement-based Middle East policy of the Democrats is in shambles. the Arab Spring they took credit for is a mob upheaval, and they have endangered all of us westerners.

At the same time, this same ruling class has produced and is promoting a big budget film about the killing of Osama Bin Laden; and they're using that film to burnish the U.S. president's image as a freedom fighter. The Muslim rioters in Egypt and Libya recently screamed,  "We're all Osama, Obama!"

Let's get this straight:  The YouTube clip of Muhammed in a movie inflamed the entire Middle East, causing riots and killing; and that’s our fault. But this big budget, highly promoted film, and all the president's bragging about killing Osama is just good fun and politics.
 
Will American voters buy into their narrative? Upon this decision our nation’s existence hangs.

Just before the 2008 election, President Obama said to his followers at a huge rally, "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America!" His version of transformation can still be halted. God is watching to see which version we prefer.

Here is a most apt description of who our enemy is:

"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." - Jesus to the Pharisees, from John, 8:44

Why Prayer Matters

Because we are frail beings in an incredibly violent universe, subject to huge forces we barely understand, we really need to appeal to the Creator of All. Our existence is a miracle, and may end at any moment. Life is short, and eternity is long.

When we pray we're stepping up and making ourselves available to God, to be used as needed in this chaotic battlefield of a world. When we do this we become a light shining in the pitch black darkness; for that is how this world appears to God and the good angels.

Forgiveness is an important first step, and the key to effective prayer. "When you stand in prayer, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your Father in heaven may in turn forgive you your transgressions." - Jesus, Mark 11:25.  This can be painful, and it's why so few people pray seriously.  Grudges are a temptation when we're hurting. But we can't have peace of mind while we're stewing in resentment. Try saying to God, "Your will be done" with the injustice you've suffered. It gets a lot easier with practice.

It's an excellent idea to ask yourself if you have a grudge against God for not answering previous prayers, or allowing you to suffer in what seems to be a very unfair way. This author certainly feels that. A virtuous, dedicated, and pious life won't earn us a pass from suffering. On the contrary, people may envy us or hate us for our love of God. We will certainly become targets to some degree for some people, and we can be martyred for our love of God. This is made very clear in the New Testament.

As hard as it may be, start your prayer by thanking God for all the good things in your life. There must be some blessings in even the worst life. Then think of all those people who have a worse time of it than you do. Ask for guidance and light. Trust that you're being heard.

If we volunteer for long enough, and make ourselves a reliable partner with God, we become like a lighthouse on solid rock, above the raging and chaotic sea. A beacon of light and comfort to those who are storm-tossed and in danger; for the shipwrecked souls who are clinging by their fingernails to the flotsam of destroyed lives and dreams.  

Helping others is a powerful tonic for our self healing. Giving help and solace is often easier than isolating oneself, and the good feelings that result can lift our mood amazingly; giving great meaning to our lives. There is justice in the universe, and God judges and punishes, but often not in a way we can know about. It's natural to want justice, but mercy may be far more beneficial to us. We may have forgotten the many hurts and wrongs that we've perpetrated, and in a perfectly just universe we might find ourselves condemned. So ask for mercy and forgiveness first, before praying for punishment of the wicked. 

There is a kind of Zen to Christianity that enriches our understanding of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The way to Salvation comes from working and trying without actually working and trying, ultimately. Heaven comes to us when we allow and trust Christ to work in us:

Are You Truly Alive?

There's a great film from 1999 called The Sixth Sense, starring Bruce Willis as a good and compassionate psychiatrist. It begins with him being shot by one of his psychotic patients. An inauspicious beginning, to be sure, but the movie raises profound questions about life and death. It did very well, globally, and was nominated for six Academy Awards. It's an all-time favorite of mine.

How do we know we're really alive? The vast majority of us - and especially those who suffer from chronic depression - at one time or another feel more dead than alive. If you've experienced divorce, death of a spouse or close relative, or great poverty, you surely know. Many people become addicted to drugs, gambling, violence, or other hazardous behaviors because they only feel alive when they're high or in danger. Some fight their feelings of emptiness by channeling them in socially productive directions; by becoming soldiers, policemen, or firemen.

All important religious scripture tells us that the status quo of human existence is insufficient; a kind of death. Even the renowned atheist and anti-theist philosophers of the 20th Century - like Sartre, Nietzsche, and Marx - say so. The usual pursuits of life are not enough to nourish the soul and spirit. Only in union with God can we be fully alive. Therefore, those who reject the spiritual aspects of life are in fact dying, or are almost dead.

Flirting with disaster is one of the oldest and most well-documented pursuits of man, and is the very soul of literature and great storytelling: Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon, or George Washington at Trenton. The desperate roll of the dice, the final battle for a hopeless cause, and the nation brought to ruin for its hubris fill the pages of the Old Testament, Egyptian hieroglyphic papyri, and Homer's tales. The possibility of death is rivaled only by sex as the spice that keeps us glued to a story, fictional or not.

"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any reward; for the memory of them is forgotten." - Ecclesiastes 9:5

This means that unless you are acutely aware that your life could end in the next hour, and every material thing you think you own will be stripped away forever,  you are dead and have no hope of enjoying real life. Essentially, the surprising message of the great religions is live life on the edge, and don't accept mediocrity.

"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it." Luke, 9:24

Our real lives are yet to come, in eternity, with God, in a resurrected world of eternal joy, riches, power. Christ came to show us the way, and many millions have seized the prize and gone on to a life that makes this worldly one seem a cheap counterfeit.

"Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!" (Isaiah 26:19)

Kingdom, Power, and Glory

The last words of the Lord's Prayer, given to us by Jesus personally, are,
 "...For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen ."

What does this really mean? The implications are shattering. It means that this world and all the powers in it are the merest insubstantial shadow, or counterfeit of God's kingdom, power, and glory.

This description of heaven is not allegory, myth, or fantasy. It is real. Our present condition is 'real' only in the narrowest sense. It's entirely temporary.

God's existence, and the worlds God is fully present within, are eternal and deathless. His vast kingdoms are perfect, His power infinite, and His glory immeasurable.

Meanwhile, we on earth are forever dependent upon police, courts, and armies to protect us; and must constantly be on the lookout for ourselves and loved ones - so that we and they are not injured, robbed, or killed.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." Jesus, Matthew 6:19

Be ready to face your Creator.

Survival or Sacrifice? The Ultimate Question For Christians

Can we use force to defend ourselves? Jesus didn't, and gave his life to the enemy. If we call ourselves Christians, how can we do otherwise?

The answer is we all have different callings and purposes for being on earth. Christ came into the world as a sacrifice. It was his mission to be a martyr.

John 1:29 - Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.


1 Peter 1:18-19 - You were redeemed...with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect.


Revelation 5:6 - Then I saw a Lamb, looking as it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne.


Jesus asks his followers to forgive all things, but this leads to lawlessness if imitated on a large scale. If our drug addict friend steals from us, is it a good idea to forgive him again and again? A nation of Christian martyrs would be quickly invaded and crucified by the enemy. God gave the nation of Israel the right to territory and self-defense. Otherwise it could not exist.

On the most elemental level, no town can exist without laws and law enforcement; which means penalties for violators. A large segment of the population obeys the law only for fear of punishment. Successful cities must have small armies of police vigorously enforcing the laws, and a sophisticated judicial system to determine guilt and punishment. Consequences must be severe for serious crimes; which means violence of one kind or another.

Armies are a national police force, designed to deter enemies, aid allies, and enforce national policies;  except in those instances when a nation deliberately attacks a neighbor and seizes territory. Wars are almost always law enforcement actions, regardless of the reasons or excuses given.

Pacifists who cry for unilateral disarmament are a menace to their nation and actually encourage war and tyranny. Many delusional people believe that all we have to do is "set an example", and others will follow. That is, if we lead a virtuous life and disarm our nation, recycle our garbage, get rid of our cars and ride buses, the rest of the world will imitate us. They have a very inflated opinion of themselves and their influence on others.

The world does not work that way. Different cultures all over the globe have radically different modes of thought. Self interest or tribal loyalty in the narrowest sense governs almost all behavior. Only the fear of severe punishment keeps the world's rogue nations and mobs at bay.

Much of the world does not respect or admire Christian non-violence. Those who have been most successful with non-violence - Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela - were battling western, largely Christian, and educated authorities. If these great men were dealing with the totalitarian regimes of the east, they would have been murdered wholesale.

Our answer is clear. Unless we have a calling to be a martyr, we have every right to defend ourselves, personally or nationally, with violence if necessary.

Conscience should guide us, however. Traditional western rules of war established over the centuries must be observed, or we risk losing our souls. Justice and mercy go hand-in-hand. Vengeful or thoughtless cruelty and enjoyment of an enemy's suffering is a mark of Satan, our ultimate adversary.

The World Turned Upside Down

The oldest and easiest error we fall into is thinking that those who are rich and powerful have God's favor, and those who aren't are being punished. The Old Testament Book of Job starkly condemns this wrong idea, and when Job's 'friends' - who blamed Job for bringing his misfortunes onto himself by sinning against God - are judged at the end of the tale, they are slated for punishment.

It's true that we often come to grief by becoming addicted to drugs, gambling, adultery, or some other self-destructive behavior. But even more often people are casualties of the ubiquitous cruelties of life on planet earth. Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote:

Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation's final law
Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek'd against his creed

Jesus turned the world on its head by giving the Sermon on the Mount. Here it is, from Matthew 5:7:

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

 He said:

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
  Blessed are the humble,
    for they will inherit the earth.
  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
  Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
  Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
  Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
  Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Even more dramatic is Jesus' parable of Lazarus and the rich man, from Luke 16:19. In it, Lazarus is a destitute person of the street whom the rich man sees daily and despises. Upon dying, Lazarus goes to heaven and the rich man to hell.

These words fly in the face of worldly power, and were thought to be the words of a madman by the Jewish High Priests and Roman authorities. Ask yourself, honestly, if you would teach your children to be this trusting and passive. It's a very hard path that Jesus has laid out for us. He asks us to "sell all you have, give it to the poor, and follow me." And he says to his disciples, "The last shall be first, and the first last. He who is the servant of all is the greatest among you." Even Jesus' disciples were dumbfounded by that statement.


This behavior largely alienates us from the modern world, if followed to the letter. Nevertheless, it is the price we pay for the Kingdom of Heaven. I don't know about you, but all I can do in this life is attempt to live this way. I don't have faith enough to go all in.


But, as the saying goes, "Half a loaf is better than none". I believe God will forgive us the other half loaf we can't deliver.


Jesus goes on to say:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Who Are The Slaves?

Slaves are people without rights or freedoms. They can be compelled at any time to do their master's will. They can't own property. Their master owns them, and can take anything they have at any time. In traditional slavery the masters have an incentive to care for their property, provide for their feeding, housing, and health care.

If we look carefully at the reality of life in many countries, it's worse than slavery. Consider the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea. The people own nothing, cannot engage in any work or trade on their own, can be imprisoned or killed at any time, and many are sick and starving. International aid agencies are the only force preventing mass deaths. Their leaders have no care, own everything, and treat them worse than animals. The very name of the country is a cruel fraud; there's nothing "democratic" or "republican" about North Korea. The people are forced under pain of imprisonment to worship their "Supreme Leader" as a god. They have no value to the state, and are treated as valueless. It's the worst nation in the world, but many other countries are running a close second. 

How does this happen to a nation? There is an ancient spirit of selfish cruelty that dwells in all of us. Our sense of right and wrong gives us strength to subdue this spirit, and most people do. But the small percentage who don't can wreak havoc. Like us, the leaders we allow into power can succumb to that vile spirit at any time, and frequently do. We must always fight for our liberty if the state threatens it.

Many societies have mechanisms that assist us in this battle. Religion can be an enormous help, and the great religions have clear and unambiguous scriptures that spell out the rules of government control. The Exodus of Moses and the Ten Commandments of the Lord looms large, because He announces in the 1st Commandment that, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other god before me." 
In Asian religion and culture, humility is considered the supreme virtue. Ancient Greek religion considered hubris (the opposite of humility) to be the worst vice in the world, and the most dangerous for society. Judaeo-Christianity, too, has a message of self-sacrifice embedded in the words of the prophets.

Here in America we used to venerate great people of humility, and Abraham Lincoln was one of them. He was an enemy of all forms of slavery, having experienced it himself. His father rented him out to neighbors when he was a boy, and pocketed the money. Regarding the American Civil War and the our battle to free the slaves, Lincoln said,

"It is the eternal struggle between two principles, right and wrong, throughout the world. It is the same spirit that says 'you toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it.' No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation, and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle....  As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."

 

What  would Lincoln think of our nation today, where state and local government takes, on average, about 44% of the money we make? That is, if we pay taxes at all. One political party has rigged the system so that about 45% of the people pay no federal taxes, and those who earn the most money -  the upper 10% - pay over 90% of all taxes. At the same time, this political party constantly slanders and demonizes the wealthy, telling them, "You're not paying your fair share!" They are fueling class warfare and envy of others, a clear evil. They're condoning theft; the forceful confiscation of personal property by government.  Ironically, the very richest segment of this party leads the charge. It's a cynical and cruel tactic to seize all political power in America.

 

Fortunately, most of us have the power to vote, and we must use that power to place better people in office. Violence is not an option. Another Civil War is unthinkable, except in the 'cold' sense. We are already in that war.

 

We also must recognize that God, the Creator of All, is our only master. God alone gave us our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  God's dominion is our only hope for true freedom and happiness.    

 

 

Who Is Crazy?

Mental illness is rampant in human society. A great deal of crime is committed by the mentally ill, and clearly many of the world's worst leaders - if not all - were and are paranoid sociopaths. We all know their names. But huge numbers of seemingly ordinary people also suffer serious disorders of the mind. A shocking report from Europe was issued in September, 2011:

Nearly Four In Ten Europeans Are Mentally Ill

(Reuters) - Europeans are plagued by mental and neurological illnesses, with almost 165 million people, or 38 percent of the population suffering each year from a brain disorder such as depression, anxiety, insomnia or dementia, according to a large new study.  (Italics mine).

With only about a third of cases receiving the therapy or medication needed, mental illnesses cause a huge economic and social burden -- measured in the hundreds of billions of euros -- as sufferers become too unwell to work and personal relationships break down.... At the same time, some big drug companies are backing away from investment in research on how the brain works and affects behavior, putting the onus on governments and health charities to step up funding for neuroscience.

"The immense treatment gap ... for mental disorders has to be closed," said Hans Ulrich Wittchen, director of the institute of clinical psychology and psychotherapy at Germany's Dresden University and the lead investigator on the European study.... Wittchen's team looked at about 100 illnesses covering all major brain disorders from anxiety and depression to addiction to schizophrenia, as well as major neurological disorders including epilepsy, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis....

Wittchen led a three-year study covering 30 European countries -- the 27 European Union member states plus Switzerland, Iceland and Norway -- and a population of 514 million people. (end of report)

The situation is almost certainly as bad in the U.S. and the rest of the world. This is equivalent to the great plagues of history, which were common until antibiotics were invented. Mentally ill people suffer terribly, and they also cause others around them to suffer. Many will 'project' their disease outward, and accuse normal people around them of being ill. If they are in positions of authority this is extremely dangerous.

The really tragic thing is that we don't have a cure. In spite of deep scientific study since Sigmund Freud in the late 19th Century, mental illness persists. It's true that many advances in drug therapy have controlled the symptoms, and people can often live almost normal lives if they have access to them. But cures remain elusive.

This author's experience is that religious faith is a cure for all illness, pain, and suffering. With willpower and faith in God's goodness the human mind can work miracles within our bodies. God is life, and life is good. Goodness and life can conquer all disease, even the disease of death. Prayer is extremely powerful, and faith will come with prayer. That faith will magnify prayer, and the effect will build and strengthen.

This testimony will show you the way:

Now is a good time to pray. This is as prayer poem:   

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so:
For those whom thou thinkest thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me.
From Rest and Sleep, which but thy picture be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow;
And soonest our best men with thee do go--
Rest of their bones and souls' delivery!
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke. Why swellest thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
 And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!

- John Donne  (1572 - 1631)

The Real Meaning of Wealth and Money

Parables are the best way to understand our relationship with God and the world, and Jesus used them all the time. God is a "king"; the world is "a field"; spiritual riches are "gold and silver", or "wheat", or "the harvest";  birds and brambles are "the evils of this world". This is a favorite of mine:

“Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five measures of gold, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey...."
 - Matthew 25:14-30

We are God's "slaves", and we've been given gifts of "gold" to invest, and He will return to collect what he gave us. Whatever is left over from our investments is ours. But what should we  invest in? Well, we have to figure that out. We would be well advised to imitate our master and buy seed, or vines. We could sow wheat or plant a vineyard. The important thing is to engage in commerce, have faith, and produce. Success is assured if we imitate the master. Jesus tells us, "He is greatest among you who is the servant of all."
Spiritually speaking, the second meaning of this parable is that we should seek God above all things. God wants us to engage in commerce with Him. He wants something from us and we desperately need and want what He has; that is, eternal life in profound joy and pleasure. We can escape death with God's help.

This parable - and others - prove that Marxist/Socialists are lying when they say Jesus was a socialist, and they try to put on the cloak of Judeo-Christianity. The wealthy who create, produce, and share their wealth by giving others opportunities are the most welcome in Heaven.
Most important, the natural, real world is made up of hierarchies. There's no such thing as equality in the narrow, human sense. We all have unique talents, abilities, and shortcomings. We don't all want the same things, in spite of what politicians tell us. Not all people want to be rich and powerful; brilliant and accomplished. Some of us want to serve and be of real value to the world and to the Lord.

This planet belongs to God, regardless of what we think or desire. It's not "your land" or "my land, from California to the New York island"; no thank you, Woody Guthrie. 
We are given power in it to create things on our own.
What are we to make, then, of the world's rapid decline into debt, economic depression,and bankruptcy? Every nation in the world is now in grave danger, vulnerable to forces that are out of control, and very few saw the danger coming just a few short years ago.
God has an eternal enemy, Satan, and he has convinced us that there is no God. He's even convinced most people that he, the Devil, doesn't exist. The world is going to Hell all by itself, it appears. Obviously, we are clearly in over our heads today, and all the experts and geniuses who designed the monetary and government systems have failed. Get ready for massive changes.

The one thing we must know and keep in our mind is this: It was all predicted thousands of years ago, and God's plan is in place. Make peace with your God and serve your God. That is our first and best duty and hope.

Are Money and Wealth the Same Thing?

If money were wealth, we could order governments to print up as much as we want and distribute it to us by mail. We could all be millionaires in a week. Or multimillionaires.  Why not?

Because of the finite supply of goods.  There are only so many Ferraris to go around, or ruby rings, filet mignons, or luxury cruises. Money is just like ration coupons. People with a great desire for a Ferrari will give a lot of their ration coupons, and bidding will cause the coupon price to soar. This is inflation, too many dollars, or euros, chasing too few goods.

The tsunami of commentary on Greece and the pending EU crackup has failed to enlighten us on the critical issue of the nature of wealth. True wealth consists of all the goods and services you have - or that your nation has - that people want, at home and abroad. Greece is a mess because they produce almost nothing and import almost everything. The EU has given them welfare - free goods and services in the form of euros - for over ten years. If Greece gets booted from the EU and reverts to the drachma, they will be useful only in the bathroom.

Germany is rich because they produce a lot of goods and services that people want. If they revert to Deutschmarks, everyone will be glad to accept and hoard them.

Why are the most brilliant and educated minds - here and overseas - unable to cope with the economic monsters (the European Union, the World Bank, the Federal Reserve) they've created? Logic and science guided them every step of the way, they thought. But they ignored the laziness and base desires of people, papering over the darkness of the human mind.

For eighty years, one man, John Maynard Keynes (1883 to 1946), pretty much dictated economic philosophy worldwide, and had his way with government policy. His theories went almost unquestioned until recently, and are at the core of our rotten financial foundation.

Keynes said, "The gold standard is a barbarous relic...", and he stated that we would all be better off if all the gold in the world were sunk in the deepest part of the ocean.

In other words, money is wealth, and it need not be tangible and intrinsic. Money and wealth are whatever government authorities say they are. Dictators have always loved Keynes, because he created the illusion that he and they are alchemists who can make the worthless valuable by government order.

The ideas of John Maynard Keynes are the true soul of Liberalism, a Utopian delusion of plenty with no sacrifice.

Before Keynes, we were guided by the financial theories of Adam Smith and David Hume,  18th Century thinkers with proven wisdom.

Hume said, "Money is not, properly speaking, one of the subjects of commerce; but only the instrument which men have agreed upon to facilitate the exchange of one commodity for another. It is none of the wheels of trade: It is the oil which renders the motion of the wheels more smooth and easy..."

Milton Freedman, the conservative Nobel Prize winner, proved Keynes wrong when Ronald Reagan largely adopted his "supply side" economic model.  It was one key to Reagan's success.

We abandoned God, who is the Creator of all, including these ideas. And our Constitution, and our individual rights. This is why we suffer.

Angels Walk Among Us Even Now

It's interesting to note that in most cultures and religions, belief in angels is common, and has been common for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks believed that the gods disguised themselves and came down to earth to test us, reward, and sometimes mate with us. Helen of Troy and Hercules were half-human and half-god. The Greek understanding of the gods is similar to the Judeo-Christian-Muslim-Hindu belief in angels as active messengers of the Most High Creator. The rescue from Sodom and Gomorrah of Abraham and Sarah by angels, and the Virgin Conception, are all about this, too.

There are hundreds of books in print today which are collections of testimonies; the real-life stories of people who have come in contact with angels. Some, of course, are surely invention or fantasy, but not all by any means. A few angelic presences have been captured on YouTube videos. Tales of angelic encounters are ubiquitous and ancient.

It happened to me. I was living in England in October, 2007, and was experiencing an emotionally wrenching and painful situation. One morning I was walking alone through a park in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and the sun was low and gleaming through the autumn leaves and bright grass in a cheerful way, as if saying, "Things are a lot better than you know". At the edge of the park I had to stop at a red light and wait for traffic to clear.

Suddenly I heard a whisper in my right ear, and felt a warm and wordless breath. Turning, I saw a stunningly gorgeous curly-haired blonde and blue-eyed woman of about twenty-four-years of age, wearing a fine, long, dove-grey wool coat with a fox fur-edged cowl. She was so close I could have kissed her. Only my wives or closest girlfriends have ever been so near to me.

Her eyes were sapphire blue, and the whites as perfect as new ivory, the pupils raven black. Her nose was fine-shaped; her lips a perfect cupid's bow and red as cherries. Her caramel cream skin glowed. Her hair was like fine gold, soft as down. My heart jumped and I was speechless. She didn't look into my eyes; as if she were thinking, "Act normal, like this is the most ordinary moment of your life. We'll meet again." Like James Bond I nodded, and slowly, but reluctantly looked away.

No human woman looks like this, lovely and pure beyond all words or utterance. I felt like a Neanderthal, actually, standing next to such a beauty. Me, a flawed, old, and rough mortal man. But I also felt affection. She had love in her heart, and will be there for me when my worn out body passes away. So I dared not say a word, nor did I touch her.

The light turned green and she crossed the street briskly, head down in her cowl and long coat, perfect legs and elegant high-heels. She wore the long coat and cowl to avoid attracting a crowd. People would certainly stop in their tracks to look if she didn't hide her face. I've never seen a garment like that, and inside it she radiated nobility and riches.

She was a messenger from God, and I had seen her before - but only in dreams. Beauty so sublime cannot exist on earth for very long. That's one message I take away from the encounter.

Some portrait paintings of the late 18th and early 19th Century come close to this ideal of beauty, and seem to have been inspired by a similar vision. Here's one, the daughter of French nobility, from 1790. Listen to her playing the harpsichord:

Angels from hell also visit this world to wreak havoc and death. Mental hospitals and prisons hold many people who are possessed or unable to cope with the shock and horror of seeing them. This world is like a train station, a place of many junctions where the good and wicked of other worlds must interact with us. Such is the nature of the world, and the 5,780 year-long war being waged against God and man... by Satan. 

Progressives Declaring War

Tyrants always have a problem with religion, whether it's the Democrat Administration in Washington, Vladimir Putin in Moscow, or the Kims of North Korea. If God the Creator holds ultimate authority, then the dictators cannot. "No one can serve two masters: for either you will hate the one, and love the other; or else you will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon [earthly power]", Jesus said. In our present age, technology has given terrible powers to earthly authorities, and we can be tracked and monitored all day, every day. The temptation to seize final, total control is irresistible to tyrants. 

We are seeing brazen and evil dictates emanating from the federal government, and they're focused particularly on people of faith.  By trying to force the Catholic church to provide birth control and abortion services in their hospitals, Obama and his Democrat minions are declaring war on all believers. If they can force anyone to violate conscience and religious principles they can force you, too. Their dictates run contrary to the Constitution and every ideal of American liberty. We are all Catholics now, essentially. Mobs are being mobilized through unions, political activist cells, and media generated hysteria to accomplish so-called "democratic" goals, but they are demonic. President Obama is a flagrant abuser of people, process, protocol and every tradition of the Presidency and our government.

We are being tested as never before, and we have a glorious opportunity to distinguish ourselves in this conflict.

Our American Republic

Civilization began growing as soon as people figured out how to counteract the mob mentality. Laws, morals, and faith in friendship made private property possible; which always motivates individuals to specialize and produce. Kings were a solution for several thousand years, but monarchies create problems. Sophisticated and educated people crave self-government, and Americans have been the most successful at it, until now. We are in grave danger, however.

America is not a democracy, and it never was. Pure democracy cannot work. The ancient Greeks - who created the first democratia - discovered that the common people can quickly become a dangerous mob. Far too often the Greeks found themselves dispatching military forces to wreak havoc on an ally or enemy in the heat of anger; but when the sun rose the next morning they would realize their grave mistake. Ships or runners would be dispatched with counter-orders. Sometimes it was too late and they committed mass murder.

The Romans adored all things Greek, and tried democracy also. It failed. But being eminently practical and smart, the Romans came up with a brilliant modification, the res publica, which we translate as republic. In this system, representatives are elected by small groups to meet with other elected representatives of other groups; thus providing a buffer from the mob, and time. The representatives can deliberate with reason and calmness while the mob cools off.

The Roman Republic failed because they never discovered the necessity of separation of powers. Our Founders created the three separate branches of government, the legislative, judicial, and executive arms. This creates checks and balances to power. Obama - the executive - and his mob rule party are now furiously attacking the judicial and legislative arms of government. This is pure tyranny, and our nation as we've known it cannot survive if he succeeds.

God Wants Us To Rule Ourselves

The ancient Israelites succumbed to fear and called on God to appoint a king over them.
From 1 Samuel 8:1:
When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders... But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel.  They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.  And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.  As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over  you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.  Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

The Israelites didn't want to take responsibility for fighting their battles, and over time, it cost them dearly. There were many bad Israelite kings who harmed the nation.

Our system of self-government can be said to represent the will of God. How dare we allow it to be corrupted!

 Link: Here is the answer....

The Satanic Nature of Mobs

We live in an age of rising democracies - or so we're told - but on close inspection, most democracies are fake. There are no free and fair elections; no rational political debates. The worst ones call themselves "the people's democratic republic of..." North Korea, Yemen, Congo, and so on. In most cases a military junta or powerful oligarchy dominates the people by fear of death or incarceration. When necessary the leaders bribe or force a mob to turn out for a demonstration in favor of the figurehead tyrant. Last year's Arab Spring toppled governments all over the Middle East, replacing old dictators with new ones who were better at controlling the mob.

Angry mobs routinely commit atrocities that individuals alone would never commit. Nothing good comes from mob action. Nobody and no thing is safe when mobs form. World history is rife with crimes of mob violence, witch burnings and persecutions of Jews, Christians, and other ethnic and religious minorities. The 20th Century was particularly bloody. It's ironic that mob holocausts worsened with the rise of science and technology, but the sad truth is civilization is a thin and delicate veneer covering hateful and murderous passions. Technology turns out to be an asset in the hands of mob manipulators. The Bolsheviks, Nazis, Shintoists, and Maoists all mastered the art of controlling and using mobs, killing over 100 million in the last century, and prospering for a time. But eventually their rotten foundations collapsed their empires.

Mobs are essentially demonic. As stated in the New Testament Gospel of Mark, Chapter 5, "Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out of the tombs. This man lived among the tombs, and no one was ever strong enough to restrain him, even with a chain. He had been secured many times with leg irons and chains, but he broke the chains and smashed the leg irons. No one was tough enough to control him. Night and day in the tombs and the hills, he would howl and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from far away, he ran and knelt before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” He said this because Jesus had already commanded him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”

Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

He responded, “Legion is my name, because we are many.” Jesus then drove the demonic forces out of the man. 

There is a mind behind evil. Regardless of the name we use for it, that mind celebrates chaos and  degradation; the corruption of human compassion and love. This is the path tyrants use to gain power, and Satan is pure power and tyranny. We're seeing raw tyranny growing everywhere, and it's happening to us in America right now. The daily news is filled with reports of mobs in the streets, the Occupy Wall Street crowd, the new Black Panthers, even self-described anarchists, provoked by grievances that have been made much worse by inept governments. The massive failures of socialist economies and corrupted legal systems are generally the cause, but sometimes it's a laughably trivial grievance; such as the perceived unavailability of birth control. The so-called 'progressive' Democrats are manufacturing a "Republican war on women" that appears to have failed to generate the expected riots. Thank God.

There is one party in America that has always specialized in using mobs. The Democratic Party, formed by Andrew Jackson  in the 1820's, catered to the interests of poor farmers and newly-arrived immigrants who were easily manipulated to riot. Jackson was elected president in 1828, but the mobs at his inauguration did so much damage to Washington D.C. that even Jackson himself was shocked at the monster he created. Nevertheless, he persisted as its leader, serving two terms.

The Democrats were the pro-slavery party and they forced the nation into the Civil War.  Lincoln ran against the Democrats in 1860 as the first presidential candidate of the newly-formed anti-slavery Republican Party. After the Civil War Democrats persisted as the racist, pro-segregation party. They succeeded in reversing Republican Teddy Roosevelt's anti-racist integration policies when Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, won the presidency in 1912. He re-segregated the armed forces and - among other atrocities - encouraged the Ku Klux Klan to demonstrate their power nationwide. Southern Democrats were outspoken in their racism until Lyndon Johnson came to power in 1964. He got Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but created such a mess that by 1968 he had no hope of re-election, and quit the race.

Until the late 1960's, northern Democrats were relatively restrained in their use of mob violence. But at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, 1968, all the stops were pulled out and cities all over America burned. Americans rejected Democrats until 1976, when Jimmy Carter was elected president as a reaction to Richard Nixon and Watergate. Carter's massive failure assured the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Democrat mob rule tactics are ascending now because president Obama - a self-designated "community organizer" - is a colossal failure, and he controls the levers of power and money. His only hope of avoiding disgrace is to acquire total dictatorial power. He and his minions sense that Americans are not paying attention, and almost all media has become a tool in their hands; propagandizing and covering up failure. The Democrats' tactics are spelled out by their hero Saul Alinsky in his book, Rules For Radicals. Hillary Clinton wrote her Masters thesis - There is Only One Fight - about Alinsky and his methods, which date back to 1946. This is Alinsky's dedication to Satan on the inside cover of Rules For Radicals:

"Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history... the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom - Lucifer."
-- Saul Alinsky

Link: Rules For Radicals

Link: More on Saul Alinsky

Once again, the Democratic Party has thrown aside all scruples, and now they're playing to the mob daily. Obama and his minions are tailoring their every word to appeal to the darkest angels of our lower nature, attacking business people, the courts, Congress, the independently successful, and anyone else who disagrees with them. They're stirring  racial hatred, envy, and strife, and manufacturing economic chaos by a blizzard of regulations. Their policies are interfering with every facet of our lives. They demonize all their opponents. It's their strategy for re-election because they've failed miserably in every arena of government, foreign and domestic.

The Demonic Realms are making their presence felt. We're in a war against evil.

It's important to remember that evil - the eternal flip side of good - can never be beaten. But it can buried in the Pit of Hell, as Scripture describes the process. For this we will have the aid of the Holy Angels.