Justifying a Police State

Justifying a Police State by Bill Wilson

To most Americans it seems to take a suspension of disbelief to see that the United States government is leading to, or even has become, a police state where individual freedom is subservient to the whims of legal interpretations and overreaching regulations.

From red light cameras to automated speed cameras to police drones to the ability to assassinate American citizens if they are suspected terrorists, we live in an age of Constitutional deconstruction where the meanings of words are twisted to fit a population control agenda and laws are written that disregard the very freedoms that our government was established to protect. 

Where does it end?

Many Christians have difficulty conceiving of how a beast government could rise to power and require everyone to take it's mark to be able to buy and sell. Yet, right here in America, we are giving up rights on a daily basis to a government that has sold us a bill of goods that this is necessary to protect us from Islamic terrorists.

Oh, I'm sorry--check that--I should say "radical extremists" because we are not supposed to be in need of protection from the peaceful religion of Islam. While Islam is a dire threat to the freedom of everyone on earth, it also serves as a wonderful Trojan Horse to justify and establish government control over every aspect of our "free" lives.

The government can view our naked bodies before we can fly on a plane. The government has technology to drive by our houses and detect where we are holding weapons. The government, or any other entity that has Google, can view our activities on our very property.

The government can freeze our assets if we do not agree with which brand of Islamist terrorists it is supporting in Syria, Iran or Yemen--its a national emergency you know. Islam has given the government justification to intrude into almost every aspect of our lives.

And once that foundation is laid, it's an easy step to crack down on your religion, your personal protection, your speech, even the products you buy (i.e. New York and soda).

Our Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms have made it possible for us to share the gospel and expand the kingdom of the one true God both at home and throughout the world.

But when the government uses an entity such as Islam to dictate our very freedoms, it won't be long until the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:9 take hold: "Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake."

Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith the Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

I believe this is both spiritual and physical. Question is: are we standing fast or losing our standing fast?

A Dark Tunnel

Going into a new chapter of life sometimes seems like entering a dark tunnel. Some tunnels are so long that it is impossible to see the proverbial light at their end.

But those who believe in CHRIST and trust in HIS IMMUTABLE WORD, know that every dark tunnel of life is ordained by the ONE who loves them and is guiding them into the fullness of HIS perfect plan for our lives.

Everyone knows that mushrooms grow in the darkness, and people, too, sometimes require darkness to enable an element of life to thrive.

The WORD tells us that "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," Hebrews 11:1, and as such, faith sometimes requires a season of darkness to thrive, for if we can see, what need have we to trust the ONE who promised?

If you are in a season of darkness, keep in mind the truth that the light will come.

Night always gives way to day.

Dark tunnels always emerge into light.

Your Heavenly Father will bring you through the dark places. Your faith will be stronger because you trusted HIM in the night season.


Canal Tunnel--PawPaw, West Virginia

Summer Trivia

Summer Trivia and the Soul of Our Culture by Dr. Jim Denison

Last night, Mars came closer to Earth than at any time in the last eleven years while the Golden State Warriors completed an historic comeback to defeat Oklahoma City and ascend to the NBA Finals. With this propitious news, summer has begun. Between now and Labor Day, Americans will consume 818 hot dogs per second. On July 4 we will eat enough hot dogs to stretch from Washington, DC to Los Angeles more than five times. Meanwhile, the Eiffel Tower has begun growing six inches—summer heat causes iron in the tower to expand. Now that you're updated on summer trivia, let's consider some more serious items in today's news. This summer, legal battles over transgender school bathrooms, lockers, and showers will escalate. Both sides want to win this culture war before school begins in the fall. Meanwhile, California's physician-assisted dying law takes effect on June 9. This is expected to be a major step forward for the national euthanasia movement. These are just two examples of a trend that effects every American, today and for generations to come. One of the best essays I have read recently is Trevin Wax's "Why the culture wars rage on." He cites Justice Anthony Kennedy's 1992 proclamation, "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of life." According to Wax, "the culture wars are, in large part, a continual battle over the truth or falsehood of Kennedy's statement when applied to moral issues." He quotes Tim Keller's observation, "No longer do we think we have the power merely to discover moral truth and reality—we think we have the power to actually create it." In a world where truth is whatever we say it is, obviously there can be no objective standard of right and wrong. And anyone who claims there is must be branded as intolerant and shunned. Nicholas Kristof, a self-described liberal and longtime New York Times columnist, recently lamented the liberal exclusion of conservative thought on American college campuses. He argues that "we liberals should have the self-confidence to believe that our values can triumph in a fair contest in the marketplace of ideas." However, when Kristof wrote an earlier column on the same theme, "almost every liberal agreed that I was dead wrong." As one reader explained, "You don't diversify with idiots." How should Bible-believing Christians respond? Paul notified the Corinthians that he would "stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries" (1 Corinthians 16:9). Notice the "and"—the apostle did not wish to stay in Ephesus despite his adversaries, but because of them. He saw their opposition to the gospel as an opportunity for dialogue and the triumph of truth. This promises to be a summer unlike any our culture has seen. But God's word never returns void (Isaiah 55:11). When we think, speak, and act biblically, God's Spirit uses us to advance God's Kingdom in ways we may not understand this side of eternity. So claim this promise: "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9).  What does God see in your heart today?

The IMPORTANCE of CHRISTIANITY

The Importance of Christianity by Bill Federer

Just six weeks after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Harvard President Samuel Langdon, MAY 31, 1775, spoke to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.



Samuel Langdon's address was titled "Government Corrupted By Vice":



"They...attempted, by a sudden march of a body of troops in the night, to seize and destroy one of our magazines, formed by the people merely for their own security...

The fire began first on the side of the king's troops...


But for what?

Because they have made a noble stand for their natural and constitutional rights, in opposition to the machinations of wicked men...aiming to enslave and ruin the whole nation..."



Samuel Langdon continued:

"We must keep our eyes fixed on the supreme government of the ETERNAL KING, as directing all events, setting up or pulling down the kings of the earth at His pleasure...

That for the sins of a people God may suffer the best government to be corrupted, or entirely dissolved; and that nothing but a general reformation can give ground to hope that the public happiness will be restored..."


Harvard President Langdon spoke further:

"The kingdom of Israel was brought to destruction, because its iniquities were full...because there remained no hope of reformation...

Their government degenerated in proportion as their vices increased, till few faithful men were left in any public offices...


...At length, when they were delivered up for seventy years into the hands of the king of Babylon, scarcely any remains of their original excellent civil polity appeared among them..."

 



Langdon added:

"When a government is in its prime...virtue prevails--every thing is managed with justice, prudence, and frugality...

But vice will increase with the riches and glory of an empire; and this gradually tends to corrupt the constitution, and in time bring on its dissolution.


...This may be considered not only as the natural effect of vice, but a righteous judgment of heaven,

especially upon a nation which has been favored with the blessing of religion and liberty, and is guilty of undervaluing them; and eagerly going into the gratification of every lust..."



Langdon went on:

"They were a sinful nation...who had forsaken the Lord; and provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger...

Their princes were rebellious against God...seizing the property of the subjects...and robbing the public treasury.

Every one loved gifts...they were influenced in every thing by bribery...they even justified and encouraged the murder of innocent persons to support their lawless power...


...And God, in righteous judgment, left them to run into all this excess of vice to their own destruction, because they had forsaken Him...

The public greatly suffered, and the people groaned, and wished for better rulers and better management.


But in vain they hoped for a change...when the spirit of religion was gone, and the infection of vice was become universal.

The whole body being so corrupted, there could be no rational prospect of any great reformation in the state, but rather of its ruin..."



Rev. Samuel Langdon continued his address to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress:

"Yet if a general reformation of religion and morals had taken place, and they had turned to God from all their sins --  

if they had again recovered the true spirit of their religion, God, by the gracious interpositions of His providence, would soon have found out methods to restore the former virtue of the state, and again have given them men of wisdom and integrity...


...We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward profession and form of it.

We have neglected...the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy commands and institutions...

Their hearts are far from Him. By many, the Gospel is corrupted into a superficial system of moral philosophy, little better than ancient Platonism..."



Rev. Samuel Langdon concluded:

"Let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of Providence for our deliverance...


...May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble...We will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners!...

Wherefore is all this evil upon us? Is it not because we have forsaken the Lord?

Can we say we are innocent of crimes against God? No, surely it becomes us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, that He may exalt us in due time...


...If God be for us, who can be against us? The enemy has reproached us for calling on His name and professing our trust in Him. They have made a mock of our solemn fasts and every appearance of serious Christianity in the land...

May our land be purged from all its sins! Then the Lord will be our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble, and we will have no reason to be afraid, though thousands of enemies set themselves against us round about."



More recently, on February 8, 2011, Harvard Professor Clay Christensen, the Robert & Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, observed:

"Sometime ago I had a conversation with a Marxist economist from China. He was coming to the end of a Fulbright Fellowship here in Boston, and I asked him if he had learned anything that was surprising or unexpected. And without any hesitation he said 'Yes, I had no idea how critical religion is to the functioning of democracy.'


'The reason why democracy works,' he said, 'is not because the government was designed to oversee what everybody does. But rather democracy works because most people, most of the time, voluntarily choose to obey the law. And in your past, most Americans attended a church or synagogue every week. And they were taught there by people who they respected.'

My friend went on to say that 'Americans followed these rules because they had come to believe that they weren't just accountable to society, they were accountable to God.'


My Chinese friend heightened a vague but nagging concern I harbored inside that as religion loses its influence over the lives of Americans what will happen to our democracy?

Where are the institutions that are going to teach the next generation of Americans that they too need to voluntarily choose to obey the laws? Because if you take away religion, you cannot hire enough police."

Where Will YOU Bow Before HIM?

JESUS' first coming was as the Babe of Bethlehem. HE came in weakness and humility, to redeem mankind from destruction. (See the Gospel of Luke, chapters 1 and 2.)

JESUS' second coming will be as KING of kings and LORD of lords, in all power and great glory. (See the book of Revelation.)

JESUS is the Beginning and the End...the Yea and Amen, and HE is everything in between. HE is all power, all truth, all joy, all hope, all majesty, all love. Everything good is in HIS heart of love for HIS people and in HIS hand of mercy to give to HIS people.

Every person born receives the opportunity to accept or to reject CHRIST as his personal SAVIOR and LORD. The decision he makes will determine his entire eternity.

The scoffer who declares in life that there is no GOD, that there is nothing about JESUS to desire HIM, will have a CHRIST-less eternity to lament his decision.

There is a day coming when, "every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD--whether in Heaven or in earth or under the earth." Philippians 2:10, 11

EVERYONE will one day worship HIM--even those in hell.

As a wise man has said, "Sinners on earth do not want to hear the word 'repent,' but sinners in hell anguish for the opportunity to hear it one more time."

Those who bow before JESUS in life will dwell with HIM eternally in glory. Those who reject JESUS in life will worship HIM eternally from the pit.

Where will YOU bow before HIM?

 

Jesus Christ Lives

 

Revelation 2:8-11

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says THE FIRST AND THE LAST, WHO WAS DEAD , and came to life: “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’

Words to Ponder

“Put on the whole armor of God, and when you have done all, stand.”  Ephesians 6:11

Quotes of Presidents

“I do not like broccoli, and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it.  And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.”  George H.W. Bush

“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” Helen Keller

Chosen?

May 31

“So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen." Matthew 20:16

Chosen? By John W. Ritenbaugh

In a sense, everybody is called to recognize God through the natural world, but the word "chosen" shows that God must personally rescue us from our self-centered blindness.

Using the term "elect," Titus 1:1 reinforces the idea that God separates some few from the many who are called: "Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect. . . ."

Romans 9:11, 14-16 confirms God's active participation in this process of separation: “…for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls…What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy."

Satan has done his work so well that God declares that he "deceives the whole world," Revelation 12:9. Thus, God mercifully separates some away from their blindness. He directly and personally favors some for His purposes.

Jesus tells us in John 6:44 that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him. Many other scriptures show that God personally separates a few from the masses of humanity for His purposes.

"Election" is the noun form of the verb "to elect." To elect means "to select, pick, choose, determine, or separate." Romans 9:11 tells us that God personally determines whom He will favor for His purposes. In the example Paul uses, He favored Jacob, but the same is true of all whom God calls.

Such people are named the "elect" in the Bible. Romans 11:5, 7, 28 clarifies this term further by revealing that "elect" becomes the title of a distinct people.

Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded…

"Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

The chosen and elect are synonymous terms designating the group with whom God is personally working through Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 24:24, the term elect appears, as it almost always does, as a favorable reference. However, we need to realize that elect does not mean better than others, though it certainly implies one has been chosen to fulfill a unique role in the plan of God.

It is God's will that all be saved through a knowledge of Jesus Christ, but those who reject that free gift cannot be among His elect. Those who do receive Jesus as Lord and Savior will find themselves to be instruments in the hand of God and used to His elect purposes in one way or another.

 

 

Additional Quotes to Ponder

Here are additional quotes for Memorial Day which are included in the following article by Dr. Jim Denison. They are too beautiful not to stand alone as separate posts.

David's prayer for his nation is my prayer for ours today: "May the LORD give strength to His people! May the LORD bless His people with peace!" Psalm 29:11. Amen.

"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."  Franklin D. Roosevelt

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."  Dwight D. Eisenhower

Minot Judson Savage: "The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men."

A Memorial Day Tribute

A Memorial Day Tribute by Dr. Jim Denison

The roots of today's national observance go back 148 years. On May 30, 1868, the first official Decoration Day was declared by General John A. Logan and observed at Arlington National Cemetery. Volunteers decorated the graves of more than 20,000 Confederate and Union soldiers.

During World War II, Decoration Day was expanded and renamed Memorial Day to honor all Americans who died in military service. Congress made the day a national holiday in 1971.

I consider Memorial Day to be one of the most significant days of the entire year. As I have noted, remembering the past is vital to living in the present. And remembering those who have fallen is vital to serving those who serve. We owe those who have died in defense of our nation the most profound gratitude we can express.

What follows is my attempt to express such thanksgiving.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt observed, "In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."

So it was that 240 years ago, soldier-statesmen declared themselves independent from Great Britain, then defended the nation their courage created. Many died to protect the freedom they achieved.

From then to today, each and every American has owed a personal debt to each and every American who has died in defense of our freedom. How can we strive to repay such a debt?

First, we emulate their courageous sacrifice.

Military officer Francis A. Walker testified, "We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them."

Today we praise them for their courage, their selfless sacrifice, their devotion to each other and to the cause of liberty. We praise them on behalf of millions of Americans they would never meet but whose freedom they purchased with their lives. And so I vow to be as sacrificial in my service to my calling as our fallen heroes were to theirs.

Second, we make our country a nation worth defending.

Over the years, I have asked many veterans how we can repay them for their service. Without exception, each one has asked that we make America worth their sacrifice. 

President Eisenhower was right: "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." And so I vow to do all I can to make our nation all it can be, to the glory of God.

Thomas William Parsons's "Dirge For One Who Fell in Battle" ends this way:
On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation!
Long as the sun doth shine upon it
Shall glow the goodly pine upon it,
Long as the stars do gleam upon it
Shall memory come to dream upon it.

May the tearful gratitude of our mighty nation water the graves of our heroes, today and every day. And may our memory dream upon their devotion and make their commitment our own.

David's prayer for his nation is my prayer for ours today: "May the LORD give strength to His people! May the LORD bless His people with peace!" Psalm 29:11. Amen.

Minot Judson Savage: "The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men."

May his words be true for us today.

Lest We Forget

 Lest We Forget by Dr. D. James Kennedy

Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. II Corinthians 3:17

Memorial Day is a time to remember those brave men and women who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Tragically, hundreds of millions of people do not live in liberty. Ironically, freedom is something that is easily taken for granted. It is like the air we breathe. It is not until it is gone that we even think about it.

John Adams, our second president, made a declaration to future years, saying this: “Posterity: You will never know how much it has cost my generation to procure your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”

One great truth that Americans have forgotten, I believe, is that the source of liberty comes from only one place: it comes from God; it has come from Christ, who alone can make people free. Wherever the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ with its emphasis upon grace and the Cross has been preached, it has been followed by civil and political liberty.

Would that the flame of freedom and liberty that burned so brightly in the hearts of our founders be fanned into a flame again in America.

This Memorial Day is a good time to begin.

Advantaged by Thievery

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are assured to us by our Declaration of Independence.

It is up to each of us to pursue our own happiness and our own prosperity, for the government has neither the heart nor the resources to grant them to us. The government can give us nothing that it has not first taken from someone else.

Do you want your life to be advantaged by thievery?

 

Eagle Rising

Truth from Henry Ford.

Not a Reward

May everyone receive JESUS as his own SAVIOR and LORD, for no one can earn Heaven.

Yes, many do wonderful deeds of kindness and love.
Yes, many do brave exploits of valor.

But these are not rewarded by Heaven.

Heaven is not a reward; Heaven is a free gift that can be attained in no other way than by accepting JESUS CHRIST as ones own PERSONAL SAVIOR.

Receive HIM now, so when the day comes that you report for that final roll call, you will be escorted to the place HE has prepared for you in glory.

The American Patriot

Memorial Day Tribute

They have served through the centuries of the existence of our nation.
They have given their all.

As the WORD says of them, "No greater love has any man than this--that a man lay down his life for his friends (nation)."

My Memorial Day Tribut

 

UPDATE... To everyone who has shared this Memorial Video... I am Overwhelmed with Gratitude & Humbled… Thank You for honoring and remembering America's fallen Heroes this weekend!!! Semper-Fi 

This is a tribute I created for Memorial Day Weekend...It's a tribute to my fellow Marines Who Gave All in the pursuit of Freedom...There are actually 3 funerals in this tribute that I attended and I am dear friends with the Marine father who is saluting the casket of his Marine son....
God Bless & Remember ALL Our Fallen Heroes This Memorial Day Weekend.

   

 

We Cannot Honor All

Unfortunately, we can't honor all those who have served this nation with bravery because they have gone on to their ultimate reward, but we can honor their memory and we can honor those who are still among us.

To them we say, BE BLESSED AND PROSPERED IN THE LAND OF PEACE THAT YOU HELPED TO ESTABLISH.

Flags Across America

I would like to see everyone repost this out of respect for those that gave us freedom of speech and religion and much more. Show that you recognize their sacrifice for you by reposting.

Love AMERICA!

Love AMERICA or leave AMERICA to live in the country you love.

 

The Federalist Papers

 

 

You Got It Wrong, Senator!

Anyone who does not support our military or the veterans who served in our military does not deserve our support.

Keep this fact in mind when you vote in November.

 Senator Calls Veteran’s Care ‘Entitlement’ We ‘Can’t Afford’

 

Alabama’s senator Jeff Sessions declared that supporting the veterans who we’d sent into harms way was just not important.