FTC

Ouch. I say that now to avoid the rush as the new tobacco tax attaxs on Wednesday. I'm one of those 'unholier-than-thous' who has never taken so much as a puff off a cigarette-and I hate the new tax. Why?
It is supposed to benefit the nefarious S-chip child health program, but the truth is: "Gummint craves money like vampires crave A-Negative or B-Positive." Everything is justified as it's "For The Children". Hog washed eggplants, friends. The Obama Financial Recovery Program is set to put the great-grandkids of our kids in hock to the tune of $900,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or so dollars...so that President Obama can create the Nanny State of America 2009. That is child abuse, putting our kids kids in slavery to a government which is supposed to keep them free.
President Obama, if you Really want to do GOOD "For The Children":
1: Stop protecting laws which make their murder legal. You know the ones I mean.
2: Teach the children of America fiscal responsibility...by setting a good example. Rather than pointing fingers at the allegedly greedy private sector, wash the greed out of Washington first (you know, "Change Washington" as you promised you would while on the campaign trail.).
3: Merit pay for teachers who actually do a good job of educating children. Fire all the rest. You'd be amazed at how enthusiastic teachers will become about teaching when it's the only alternative to a pink slip.
President Obama, if you have to break the teachers unions in order to improve Education...it's worth it.
It would be "For The Children".

Sheep! SHEEP! BAA-AAH!

Are you having any wool being pulled over your irrespective heads right now?
Are you sure?
I have an idea-to prove that you are not sheepish, leave your lights on, live your normal Saturday night, ignore the "Earth Hour 2009" plant eaters who may hate you for your non-compliance. Both literally and figuratively they continue to be in the dark. Don't let them get your goat, either.

As The Dear

I recently found Big Hollywood, a site created by Andrew Brietbart which seeks to shine a bit of light on the darkness of Liberal Hollywood. It's not a great site, but I’ve read a few articles there. Including one about Janeane Garofalo which included this picture.
















My response to the picture was sadness. The article by someone named Joseph Lindsey suggests that she is suffering from a disease called “Hollywood Political Mental Disorder”. How original and groundbreaking.
Forget the article. Look at the picture-the tattoos, the tired ironic pose. I know that Garafalo is my political opposite, and please, don’t take this as ‘Doug bashing another Liberal because that is what Conservatives do’. I feel bad for Janeane. I see her as someone who has led a very bitter, unhappy life. I’m not basing that opinion on one picture-I’ve enjoyed her movies, watched her stand up comedy, seen her talking politics on the shows, etc. She’s about my age, give or take, and if I could take any part of my life, put it up in a bundle and give it to her, it would be my happiness, my joy. I think she is missing out on happiness. Liberalism and atheism will do that to you. Again, I’m not bashing for the sake of-the very heart of Liberalism is to be embittered that someone is being treated harshly, that there is some injustice to be corrected, that there is SOMETHING which must be complained about. Atheism takes away the One person to Whom complaints could be addressed. That is a recipe for an unhappy, bitter life; I want a better one for Janeane. My joy, my happiness come from being at peace with God. I’m not bragging, just explaining. If Janeane knew even a moment of the peace which I have, she would hunger for it, desire to make that peace her own. May God grant her that Peace.

Post # 1000 minus 499

"5and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:5

There it is-when you hear Christians talk about the 'indwelling of God's Holy Spirit", it isn't theological mumbo-jumbo. It's the truth we live in every day of our lives. In this verse God has stated it perfectly, through Paul's letter to the Roman believers.

'Hope {in God} does not disappoint' . The same cannot be said for hope in Man.

"5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones." Proverbs 3:5-8

Amen.

Expecting Your Faith Bailout?

"So...let me get this straight...you know you don't deserve Heaven. You could never afford the payments to own there, have no way of paying back a loan if you could get one..."

"Hmmmm."

"I can't give you any keys, as there’s nothing to lock up up there... but you can move right in. The Owner has paid all of the costs, has prepared your special residence. More good news: the United States Government can no longer levy any taxes on you!"
**********

Enough with the fun analogy. Fun, but true: we can’t ever be rich or good enough to buy our way into Heaven, because the cost wasn’t paid in money or goodness. It took a perfect sacrifice to satisfy God’s Justice. It took Jesus going to the cross, being put to death in our place, to make it possible for us to be restored to right relationship with God the Father.
I’ve said it before, recently even, but it bears repeating: if there were no Heaven, and we simply disappeared into nothingness when we died...the Heaven I’ve known here on earth as one of God’s children for the past 30 years would be Heaven enough. But there is Heaven, and although I don’t deserve it on my own, I’m in. Praise God for His Lovingkindess!

Rest, Peace.

This is a bit of a different post. Natasha Richardson died today after a skiing accident.
All of the common, well re-visited thoughts come to mind-prayer for her grieving family, loved ones mourning her loss, a life ended too quickly-you know the list as well as I do.
I have compassion for her family and friends, which is the reason why I'm posting today. I know how they feel.
Most of my friends know that my brother passed away a few years ago, as I posted about that terrible event when it happened. Same type of accident that Ms. Richardson suffered, though in my brother's case it was a staircase instead of a ski hill.
But it was a sudden loss, one that my family is still dealing with, each in our own way.
Natasha Richardson's family could use some prayers lifted up to God, asking Him to help them cope with her passing. Feel free to join in.

Without Details

The 'what happeneds' are private. Just more examples of God working, showing Mercy. I just want you to know that God is still reaching out to the lost and that Salvation is possible even for you.
You may not 'get it'; you may have a faulty idea of God due to living in darkness (you do know what I mean).
You may have had your fill of faulty theology growing up in a bad church; knowing that they are wrong, but it's the only church you've had, so now, as an adult, you don't know who to trust.
Here comes human nature raising it's ugly little head: even if you don't believe that theology anymore, if I or another Christian dare to suggest that your church is false, you'll defend it as good...enough.
Do you realize how twisted it is to trust your soul to a church theology you don't even believe anymore?
Christians are charged with sharing the Gospel; there is hope only in Christ, which means that there is no other hope, no other way to leave the darkness and become right with God. As the Gospel points to Christ and declares Him "True"; we must point to every man made bad theology and say "False-there is no hope to be found there."
If you love your life, it is only safe in Jesus Christ.
If you hate your life, it can be redeemed into something worth loving, but only through Christ.
Don't let bad religion hold you back from seeking God.

Norman Rockwell's Sunday Morning

Psalm 67

For the choir director; with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

¹ God be gracious to us and bless us,

And cause His face to shine upon us—

Selah.

² That Your way may be known on the earth,

Your salvation among all nations.

³ Let the peoples praise You, O God;

Let all the peoples praise You.

⁴ Let the nations be glad and sing for joy;

For You will judge the peoples with uprightness

And guide the nations on the earth.

Selah.

⁵ Let the peoples praise You, O God;

Let all the peoples praise You.

⁶ The earth has yielded its produce;

God, our God, blesses us.

⁷ God blesses us,

That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

Trust, Dwell, Cultivate.

1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
2 For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Psalm 37:1-3

Part of the reason that I don't worry about who rules in Washington is I know Who rules in Heaven and on Earth.

20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
And clever in their own sight!
Isaiah 5:20-21

That's right-I am calling out President Obama as an evildoer. Try to not faint. Deep breaths.
No matter how glorious the praise from the populace, President Obama is evil. He has a lot of company on the evil side, but make no mistake: evil is as evil does.
First and foremost: He cannot support Abortion and be considered 'Good'. If you support Abortion...you are not good, either. Linguistic gymnastics cannot make Abortion a moral positive. Blatherings about 'above my pay grade' can't change the fact that Abortion is evil, and that to support Abortion is to be in favor of the murder of innocents.
But that's just one issue among many: read on.
Hitler had the power and opportunity to change his peaceful country into an army of faithful militants. He remade Germany in his own flawed image, and we are watching President Obama and the Democrats attempt the same.
Those in Germany who spoke out against Hitler were silenced. They died, refusing to call evil good.
By contrast, those who spoke out against President Bush were allowed to say whatever they wanted, as President Bush never abused the freedoms of the populace.
Will President Obama be as protective of the peoples Freedoms? We will find out.
No matter how President Obama destroys the economy, casting blame on others to protect the culprits in his political party...God is in charge. One day President Obama and I will each stand before God in Judgment.
My sins have been washed away. Here is what Barack Obama said in an interview with Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun Times:
"Obama: There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they’re going to hell.
Falsani: You don’t believe that?
Obama: I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell. I can’t imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity. That’s just not part of my religious makeup.”
Don't call good evil, either, friends-that's just as bad. May God Bless this world by ridding it of evil.

Two Seconds

If you look to the right you will see a new featured prayer which may be up for awhile. Here's the deal: I encourage you to join me in that prayer. It is positive, it hurts no one, and it will take all of two seconds.
Thank you.

I'm Not Laughing

1 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.

6 The righteous will see and fear,
And will laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches
And was strong in his evil desire.”
Psalm 52:1, 6-7

I'm not David. I understand what is intended, that those who trust in themselves instead of God are foolish. The point is made many times in scripture and elsewhere that no matter what you achieve or gather to yourself in this life, you carry no treasure into the next. Trusting in the abundance of your riches is as deadly as a heart attack.
But I can't laugh. Not today. I have too many friends who do not yet trust in God.
The only good which can come out of the present destruction of our global economy: as more people find that their money has grown wings and flown away, that they no longer have riches to trust in...they may yet appeal to God.
It may seem that Christians love it when you are miserable, so they can 'get you' when you are at your most vulnerable.
Not true-we are constantly pointing towards God, in good times and bad. But you only notice, pay attention when things get tough for you.
Before I became a Christian, I was in those perilous straits, in the deepest of troubles. That is what it took for me to look up, to ask God for His help, His Salvation. I praise God for those troubles, as they led me to Him.
The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
If there were no Heaven or Hell, the mercy and lovingkindness which God has shown me in this life would be treasure enough. But Heaven awaits, and the treasure which I cannot not bring with me in the casket will be there ahead of me. But those are nothing compared to the treasure of being at Peace with God, and living in His Kingdom, in this life and the next. May God richly Bless you today.