Danny Wallace tells his story

Danny Wallace was molested by his father from ages 5 to 17, sold to other men, carried on homosexual affairs throughout his marriage, contracted HIV/AIDS - and has been delivered. How? He got real with God, and God honored his authenticity.

You can learn more about his powerful testimony at www.dannywallace.org

Obama calls for freeze on federal pay

All I can say is it is about time!!!

Julian Assange and Wikileaks...

I learned in high school that very few people can be trusted. When once a "squealer" always a squealer became my alarm system. As I was grew up, I found out that tactics and schemes devised by teenagers were child's play when compared to those of adults in corporate America.

This rule applies to Julian Assange and his Wikileaks site. No country is safe from him. Since he has been able to penetrate into the secret realms of the United States, we can be sure he is busily working, just like a termite, to uncover secrets of other countries. All for a few hits on his website and to see what kind of stir he can cause. It certainly isn't responsible journalism. To even compare it to journalism is laughable in a sarcastic sort of way.

Back in the 1800's Yellow Journalism became a fashion trend, hype became the normal way to sell Dr. Quack's Stress Relief Medicine (filled with alcohol or Laudanum or both); the years  have only made the trends more slick and, for the most part, harder to detect. This sort of irresponsible bleating of secrets is nothing short of criminal. Not even Russia, nor any other cold war enemy ever used this tactic. Of course, that was war between governments and was carried on with less emotion and clearer heads.

If one does a study on this man, Assange, one will find a heinous person who advocates pornography, child exploitation, and other perverted sexual things. Therefore, one doesn't have to wonder at the appalling lack of regard for human life or societal balance this man has.

Be on the watch. He's ferreting out secrets from other countries and rest assured he will make them public. I won't be surprised if he causes a world war. It won't be the first time one man has caused world turmoil, and it won't be the last.

I am appalled that the U.S. has allowed these leaks. This is proof that the lackadaisical national security mindset of the Democrats is far from safe and in a galaxy far, far away from security of the fourth kind.

Faith of a child

"Would you like to take a walk with me?" my grandfather held out his huge hand.

Eagerly, I jumped up and ran to him, my tiny fingers barely able to grip his. I was somewhere between one and two. I remember I was fascinated by the sun in the trees; and Granddad asked this question of me every day. As we would walk down the gravel road, he was very careful of the ruts, holes and rocks for us both.


I, on the other hand, walked with my face toward the sun, watching the play of light in the leaves. I had no notion where I put my feet or which direction I was walking, but always trusting that Granddad would never let me fall or wander from the path we trod together.

I do not know why I have this memory, or why it has stayed so vibrant with me for more than five decades (that makes me sound old). I'm walking, safe and secure with my eyes lifted above, no fear of where my feet were going.

This is how it should be with God. If we hold on to His hand, if we trust He will not lead us into temptation and will deliver us from evil, then we can keep our eyes lifted to Him and never fear where our feet are walking. Even when we drop our eyes for that fleeting instant, He is there to grab us and lift us from the depths as He did Peter in the storm. There is nothing He cannot do. 

Stuck in a rut?

Yep, we've all felt that way at one time or another. I get that way whenever I don't study my Bible for a few days.

What you are feeling is an emptiness, like you are sitting on the edge of a cliff.

Take this promptly to God. Seriously, don't stop to smell the coffee and don't do anything until you've spent time on God's lap or at His feet. Ruts are dangerous. Satan just loves it when Christians suddenly look up and the sides of the rut are higher than their heads.

Galatians 5:16 I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
That word desire means there is something that is longed for, something in particular and it is on the verge of unleashing toward anything that will fill that void or satisfy that hunger.

What void? What hunger you ask. When a person feels unsatisfied, there is a hankering to eat more or drink more to fill the void. We've all been on diets and felt that desire to eat everything in the fridge. That is exactly what Paul is talking about. He goes on to list some things that the flesh desires. This is not in anyway to suggest that you would do this... it is a warning that this is what could happen. Beth Moore coined the phrase in her book, "Godly People Can Do Ungodly Things". It's very true. When we are constantly expecting that body-jarring emotion when we go to church or when we hear that favorite song, we can make our mind numb to the more subtle nuances of God's blessings. There is so much more to God than a spectacular high. Those kinds of highs are more like dessert and precious few people can eat dessert before the main meal and still do the main course justice.

Don't think that you will always be in the fiery chariot. Our emotions play tricks on us and Satan uses these to influence us into making choices that are ungodly. Try, instead, to focus on your love for God.

Have you ever been in love? That first flush of goose-pimply, heart fluttering adrenalin rush when ever you even think of the person much less be in their presence. When all you want to do is just please that person with whatever means you can devise, use or imagine. Then you settle into a comfortable relationship and your love grows deeper and greater than the day before. This is the time that God is most pleasing to His children and is pleased by His children.

That is the kind of emotion and pleasure that survives these little flat places in our lives. It is the time that God gives us for inner rest. Who wants to always be climbing to the mountain top or tumbling down to the valley all the time? I don't... it is what makes life exciting, granted, but I also want that quiet time to focus on just Him and me. We all need that quiet time with Him so our love and our relationship can blossom. Use the time wisely by talking to Him about everything and pour out your thoughts, your feelings, your heart to God so that He can fill you up with His Spirit and the fruit will come pouring out of you. When you get to this point, there are no more ruts. Oh, you’ll find the occasional pot hole, but you won’t be stuck in a rut up to your neck again.

Psalm 4:1 Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness. You gave room to me in distress. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer. 2 O sons of men, until when shall My glory be for a reproach? Will you love vanity? Will you run after a lie? Selah. 3 But know that Jehovah has set apart the godly for Himself. Jehovah hears when I call to Him. 4 Tremble and do not sin. Speak within your own heart on your bed and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in Jehovah. 6 Many are saying, Who will make us see any good? O Jehovah, lift up the light of Your face on us. 7 You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the time their grain and their wine grew. 8 I will both lie down in peace and sleep; for You alone, O Jehovah, make me dwell in safety.

Classics that are MUST reads

Something interesting on Facebook caught my eye. It was a list of 100 classics that some Brit said almost no one had read more than six on the list. I've read thirty of them. So I've listed those that I've read and added some more of my own that I believe are must reads.

The Bible

Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye

Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne

Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

Edgar Allen Poe complete works

The House of the Seven Gables Nathaniel Hawthorne

Scarlett Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

Kim by Robert Louis Stevenson

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Odyssey by Homer

 No Time for Sergeants by Mac Hyman

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Ben Hur Lew Wallace

The Virginian by Owen Wister

Silas Marner by George Elliot

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway

The Winds of War Herman Wouk

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

Emma by Jane Austin

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

1984 by George Orwell

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

The Complete novel set of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Montegomry

Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson

Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

Dune by Frank Herbert

Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Complete Works of Shakespeare (or at least one of his plays)

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

By no means classics but still quite interesting:
Star Wars -- various authors
Star Trek novels -- numerous authors
All of Georgette Heyer's novels
 

This is by no means a complete list of must reads. Some deal with some very ugly issues, some are quite thrilling (Ben Hur and Scarlet Pimpernel for example). I am quite intrigued because I know I’ve read quite a few more than these that are considered classics, but I can’t remember their titles or author’s names. If you can’t remember one or the other, then you can’t Google. Perhaps you’ve read some that I don’t have on the list!


What are some classics that you've read and remember fondly?

God is Compassionate

The perpetual covenant of peace...
There is a promise of peace to Israel who is currently dispersed into the nations, scattered around the world. Isaiah prophesied that Israel would need a much larger space because her descendants would be coming home and inheriting the nations.

Conversely, the children of the desolate (that is the Gentiles, Goyim) far out number those of the married woman (Israel). Israel was charged with being the Light of the World and of converting others to know God. Yet, they got confused with God’s command to have nothing to do with the inhabitants of Canaan. They were legalistic concerning the infection of the wickedness from the surrounding nations, and yet, they embraced that wickedness over and over. Finally, God had to scatter the ten tribes of Israel because of their stubbornness and their idolatry. All that can be found in the third chapter of Jeremiah.

However, even with all her wickedness, God’s greatest desire was for His wife to return to Him.

Isa 54:4 Do not fear, for you shall not be shamed, nor shall you be abashed, for you shall not be wounded. For you shall forget the shame of your youth, and you shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.

That word widowhood comes from a Hebrew word
אלמן ‘almânal-mawn' – Prolonged from H481 in the sense of bereavement; discarded (as a divorced person): - forsaken

God discarded Israel, (but is keeping track of her. We know this because in the Revelation, God seals His chosen witnesses Revelation 7:3 saying, Do not hurt the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Then announces 12 thousand from each tribe will be sealed.) This is precisely what God did to Israel because of her iniquity. He cast her off as a divorced woman. Jeremiah 3 is the dictate of the divorce decree. There are many other references that point to her iniquity, but this one suffices. The bright spot of hope is that this is not forever. God will gather His chosen people to Himself.

Soon God will be wooing His beloved and all will be forgiven once the stubborn necks are bowed and the stiff knees are bent. All the Jews will recognize that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Jesus prophesied this in Matthew 23:39 For I say to you, You shall not see Me from now on until you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

There are all kinds of examples in the Bible of sin and consequences.

Adam – the sin of unbelief—he repented – but the consequence was physical death.
Cain – the sin of murder – he did not repent – he wandered the earth.
Abraham – the sin of lying which sprang from unbelief of God’s ultimate protection -- he did repent – he got his wife back
Sarah – the sin of unbelief and laughing at God – she did repent – bore a son, Isaac
Jacob – the sin of unbelief and he deceived brother/father – he repented -- wrestled with God and preserved a nation.
Joseph – the sin of pride – he repented – he saved Israel in Egypt
Rueben – the sin of sleeping with his father’s wife – do not know if he repented – passed over for royalty (Jesus did not come from his line.)
Simeon—the sin of murder. He killed a tribe for offense to sister -- passed over royalty
Judah—he married foreign wife, did not teach his sons in the way of the Lord – he did repent—from him came the royal lineage and through him came Jesus
Moses – disobedience, lack of self-control, in a fit of temper he struck the rock instead of speaking – for this he did not go to Canaan.

And that is just in Genesis and Exodus. Those were sins against God.

Our selfish acts of disobedience will result in consequences. Nothing happens in secret that will not be exposed to the light. The most wonderful thing is that the LORD forgives the past. His great compassion is far beyond understanding. If we were to be asked to give our first born son to pay for the lives of the most wicked of people who had nothing of worthy to give back, our hearts would be granite and our faces be flint. Yet, God has mercy for us because while we were yet sinners, Christ willingly died for us.

What happens to our past moral and spiritual failures when we repent of our sins and claim God’s forgiveness? I keep going back to these verses. Because He is God, He can do this.

Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more."

Because I am not God, it is much for difficult for me to forgive. I want to give my brother-in-law a good shake and ask him, “What were you thinking? How dare you do that to my sister?” I want to shake my Bible in his face and scream “Shame on you.” But, is that God’s way or my own anger? It doesn’t matter what sin is committed, God will forgive. Except the unpardonable sin and that is the sin committed by the self-righteous bigot who attributes the deeds of the Holy Spirit to the Devil.

Heb 10:17 also He adds, "their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more."
But, once repentance is accomplished, once the pride is gone and the spirit is broken, once forgiveness is asked for, God reaches down and takes that sin, tossing it where it can never again accost, accuse or indict. That sin is as if it had never been committed. But, we are not like that. We hold on to it. We wallow in it. We add up all the sins done to us or to those we love and make walls of them. What we don’t realize is those walls have built in speakers that drown out the voice of God. Those walls harden the heart. Those walls steal our joy, destroy our peace, kill our fellowship with God. Those walls are built with supplies from Satan.

Isa 38:17 Behold, for peace was bitter to me, most bitter; but You loved my soul from the pit of destruction; You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

I understand this intellectually, certainly. How it works is beyond my understanding. Peace is as allusive as a wisp of fog when we harbor feelings of anger, bitterness, or unforgiveness towards our siblings in Christ. We lash out, unthinking of how the words can slice and dice. We use the Bible as an offensive Sword, and I do mean that in both senses of the word. It is offensive to God for us to use His Word to decimate our brothers and sisters.

We are Children of God. We bear His name. We are charged with bringing the Light of the Gospel to the world through the Great Commission. Jesus said the way the world would know Him was by our love for one another. We should be acting and speaking in such a way that whoever we meet, where ever we go, someone says, “I covet what they have.”

Any Christian who has back slid down that slippery slope into the Valley of Death, must understand that the LORD has called all of us back to Himself as a much beloved, betrothed wife. Because of Christ, God will never reject us. He treasures us far above rubies. We should treasure each other far above diamonds at the very least.

Lt. Col. Allen West about Islam terrorists

I agree with him! We need leadership in Washington who understand exactly what we are up against and be LOYAL to our Christian nation.

Dealing with anxious thinking...

I had to drag this out of archives. It is speaking to my heart especially today because I am dealing with anxious thinking. Of course, we all have things that happen, troubles that are common to man, but we can't help getting anxious sometimes.

There are times when a little fear is good... like when walking across a swinging bridge that has no guardrails and the drop down is about 100 feet or so to cold rushing water. Did that one time and my heart still pounds at the thought of it.

Those times don't come around very often. God says we are not to worry. Jesus said, "Do not worry." Angels have told men, "Do not fear." I don't know how many times this is said in the Bible and we all do it. I do it.

Worry is a sin.

So how do we deal with worry? I love what Dale Carnegie said, "Figure out what's the worst thing that could happen, then make a plan if that thing happens and set the whole thing aside." We worry about things that 90% of the time do not happen. Why is that?

When we are anxious, it affects our thinking. It clouds our thought process and we are consumed about what might happen... then it never does, or rarely does.

Unfortunately, anxious thinking or negative thinking can become a habit and we never realize what we are doing to ourselves. When walking into a room, have you ever thought, "Gee, everyone is staring at me, I must look awlful." Or "No one will like me here, they all think I'm stupid."

Seriously... think about that. Maybe one person... maybe two, might think that but, trust me on this, a room full of people have a room full of thoughts and they are not all centered on you! Well, perhaps if you are the Governor or the President, they might. Get a grip on those negative thoughts! (I'm talking to myself, here.)

What are some other ones?

"If I don't do this with no mistakes, I've failed."
"This is a total disaster. I made an absolute mess."
"Everybody hates me, I'm going to go eat worms."

And lately, this one has been cropping up more and more:
"I can't find a job! No one wants to pay for my experience. I'm too old.

That is stinkin' thinkin'. Face the fact the world does not revolve around you. We do not live in a world of black and white... but in a myriad of colors and shades. The likelyhood of any event striking instant dislike for you in the breasts of a roomful of people is nil and none. You do not have to do a poll on that to find out.

The bald fact is, our thoughts should not revolve around our own selves, but we should consistently and constantly keep our eyes on Jesus. If Peter had never taken his eyes off Jesus, then he would never have sunk in the waves... or denied him three times.

Jeremiah 17:5 So says Jehovah, Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and who makes flesh his arm, and who turns aside his heart from Jehovah. 6 For he shall be like a juniper in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall live in parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, and Jehovah is his refuge. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters. It sends out its roots by the stream, and it will not fear when the heat comes; but its foliage will be green; and it is not anxious in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.

Birth control free under Obamacare

This month, a committee comprised of experts will meet to decide what preventive care should be provided to women free of charge under "Obama's medical overhaul".  One of the things being considered is birth control, or using the nice term, Family Planning. What it really means is abortion in its most extreme sense and contraceptives in the less extreme.

Associate Press reporter Richard Alonso-Zaldivar asks the question, "But what part of that is preventive medicine?" I'd like to know the answer to that question as well.

How many senators and representatives stood up to Pelosi and Obama declaring they would not vote to use public funds for abortions? Enough to have ground that monolith to a legislative halt. Yet, how did that amendment under the guise of women's  health make it into the bill? According to its author, Sen. Barbara Mikulski D-Md, it was clearly understood it was about family planning. Again, what is meant by family planning by every abortion clinic from here to Timbuktu? Abortion. Were the legislators horns waggled? Come now. Surely, they watch the news regularly. Surely, they knew what "family planning" meant. After all, Mikulski said it was clearly implied it was woman health. There is little doubt about the true meaning because our nation's largest provider of abortions, Planned Parenthood, is pushing their agenda in the matter.


Some physicians state emphatically that family planning saves lives and promotes health. Certainly, if we do not consider the life of the baby, that may be true. Do they mean by promoting health in the same way removing a tumor helps prevent cancer from spreading? Surely not. Yet, the morning after pill which aborts any fertilized egg is considered contraceptive by the Food and Drug Administration. Dressing it up and calling it something else doesn't change what it actually is, just like calling poop excrement doesn't change the smell.

Our society has lost so much self-control that abstinence isn't even considered as a viable solution to preventing pregnancies. Yet, it is the only contraceptive which is 100% effective that does not cause damage to the womb or death to a living human being who has no voice to say, "I want to live!"

Why was that amendment left in the bill? Because the U.S. government set a goal to reduce unplanned pregnancies by 30% by this year. The CDC also says one half of the 6,000,000 U.S. pregnancies each year are unplanned. Amazing statistics posted by the American Pregnancy Association; only 26,000 pregnancies end in a stillborn child. Does that resonate with anyone else?

I shiver to imagine what God thinks of this offering innocents to the god Convenience. How now shall we give honor to the LORD God Almighty and remain silent about those who are speechless?