Franklin Graham's Military Unvitation

Some of you may have read of the controversy surrounding Franklin Graham and his invitation to speak at the Day of Prayer service at the Pentagon. The link is:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/21/army-weighs-rescinding-invitation-evangelist/

His response is admirable. He, in essence, points out the way to determine Good from Evil with working definitions of the same. That which damages, diminishes or destroys ones life, health, character, property or potential is a good definition to discern what is evil in regards to businesses, organizations, governments, religions, and philosophies. He does a great job of using this guide to point out what Islam does to the lives of those under its rule. It damages diminishes and destroys the property and potential (at least) of the women under is rule.

Those who volunteer for Islamic rule are free to do so but those who do not choose Islam are not free to leave. The damage of such slavery is incalculable.

I join Franklin Graham in saying I love and wish the best for people of the Muslim religion. I hope for them to have the freedom to leave it if they wish. The freedom to make moral distinctions is something we need to promote and exercise.

Knowing and seeking Good leads to a life well lived to its fullest potential.

Who Can be Trusted with Freedom?

We have come to the place in our history as a nation where those who have been entrusted with its leadership by a free electorate do not trust those who freely elected them with freedom itself.

Can you blame them for questioning our judgement?

Vitamin E

I need a little Vitamin E(ncouragement) once in a while.

I'm 46. I went to college after high school and finished my BS in Animal Science in 1987. I passed on going to Veterinary College at the time due to burn out. I was working and going to school at the time. I went to work in the medical industry for 8years then was fired. It was traumatic for me at the time. Never been fired. Very humbling. So in 1995 I had to make a decision to either go back to Veterinary School or get another job in the medical industry as a sales rep. It was a big deal for me because I then had 2 children and my wife. I realized if I would ever achieve my dream I had to go back then. I decided to take the risk with my family in tow.

While working a full time job with my father-in-law, I started studying at night for the VAT (Veterinary Aptitude Test), a 5 hour exam that covered a world of knowledge. I did well as it turned out. After 1 1/2 years of preparation I was accepted and started College at age 32. For four years I worked and went to a professional college the extremes of which I can't begin to describe. I did all that I could for my family and my education. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I felt guilty for putting my family through all the strain for my dream. We lived just above poverty level for 5-6 years because of my choice to sacrifice. The time it took me away from my two girls can never be gotten back. I had myself convinced I would make it up to them later with a higher standard of living because of my education. This is possible in America you know.

After Veterinary College I worked 3 jobs to make my student loan and house payments, one full time and 2 relief work jobs (where a vet substitutes for another who wants to go on vacation.) I was working every day. Then 1 1/2 years after graduating from Vet School I was approached by another Vet to buy his clinic. What a leap of faith it was to take that plunge while I was already in debt more than I could ever have dreamed. I did. I risked everything again to have a chance at financial independence.

If you have ever owned a business you know you don't own a business. It owns you. In 2001 I began the purchase of my practice. I have done all that I could to make it successful while maintaining my relationships with my wife and kids. It has been a never ending series of hoops and obstacles but in 2009 I finished the purchase of the practice. I am still paying off other debt but the practice is finally paid for.

All this has taken its toll on my health and family.

God has a great sense of humor in regard to my life. I look forward to sharing video clips of my hapless life with the rest of you guys in Heaven. I imagine Him watching me and saying to one of the angel, "Hey, come her and watch this." For instance...

In 2008, as you know, Barack Obama was elected to the presidency. It just so happened that he was elected at a rare time in our history when the House of Representatives and the Senate had majorities that would follow him, like possesed pigs, into the sea. Guess what. They want to change the rules to everything. Now after my long, hard, 110% bust my hump, by the rules, risk everything twice slog to some little bit of success I am faced with a new challenge. The never ending change of rules that will "redistribute" the little that I have struggled for. I now have the "priviledge" of improving the lives of those who know nothing of my sacrifices. So much for bettering my life and the lives of those around me who know and have shared in the sacrifices. Wow, tough pill to swallow.

I said all of that to say to you despite the government's aim to punish those who have worked and sacrificed for some wealth, despite the unjust practice of changing the rules in mid game, despite the ruling class attitude, despite the brushing aside of the wishes of the majority and despite the total self gratifying nature of this government they did not change in one wit who I am.

I still believe in fair play. I believe in generosity, charity and the incredible potential of an individual's life. I believe the more a government tries to control life and wealth, the smaller that government will appear and the smaller that government will be in actuality.

I believe a government that thinks its citizens need its benevolence and charity is a government run by petty, narcissistic men who have never known what personal excellence, freedom or true goodness really mean.

I believe in a personal excellence that no government or law can take away, abridge, restrain, direct or control.

I believe in a God who endows those He created with such glorious things as life, liberty and the chance to seek happiness in this world. No government should mess with Him, His plans or try to take His place in the lives of its citizens.

The "new rules" can't touch my affections for my wife. It cannot hold back my love for my children. They cannot keep me from admiring brave and noble men and women whom I own my gratitude.

The "new rules" will not stop me from protesting them, opposing them at every chance, and explaining the grievous injustice of redistributing the benefits of the labors I have poured my life into at great expense to those I love.

This government will not take my integrity, perseverance, generosity, vision and belief that God reigns sovereign over it even when it does not acknowledge Him. Heaven will demonstrate the error of such a government.

I will not surrender, ever, my passion for a free American Society that is a garden for individual excellence. I will not allow it. This administration does not have the power, wisdom nor the equipment to divest my soul of such things. I am the sole owner of these wonderous things and more. This administration will never understand, change, or take them from me.

How about you?

If you saw Glen Beck yesterday you heard him discuss the “Liberty Tree” and that today we are witnesses to a perverted “Liberty Tree” in Washington with corruption running amuck. It has been corrupted by a long running undermining of our morality. He made the point the “Liberty Tree” needs to be replanted with the seed our Founders gave us “Faith, Hope, and Love.” I was watching late and had to say good night before his show was over so I did not hear him actually reference the Bible. The Founders (and he) got those terms or principles from the Bible. I Corinthians chapter 13 is the source for those virtues. It is from Christianity that we get these and hundreds more under girding principle to guide a free society.

His lesson in the “Liberty Tree” agrees with my point that American Freedom is inspired by, built upon, fueled by and sustained by the teachings of the Bible. Its standards are beyond reproach. “Love thy neighbor as thy self,” will save the government coffers billions if we once again acknowledge it, revere it and teach it to our children (“the Bible or the bayonet” I believe was the phrase.)

High standards of Good prevent the need for government enforcement. It also preempts the need for many laws. When you have your neighbor’s interest at heart he will not need to be protected from you. Please, we all want our neighbors to believe in and live by The Ten Commandments (read them and see); not only our neighbors, our doctor, our banker, our chef, our airline pilot, even our lawyer. The Goodness taught by the Bible and Christianity protects everyone. Why would we want its influence removed from our public discourse?

American Freedom, our “Liberty Tree,” was received from God, “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” If God is the author of our Freedom and we continue to reject God, we assure the loss of American Freedom (the greatest the world has ever known), maybe forever.

I realize I may be driving this into the ground but the threat to American Freedom is upon us. Not only the financial aspect but the assault on our liberty is becoming a matter of policy for the current administration. We have to own the self-evident truth that we (and all men/women) are created equal and endowed by our Creator with these unalienable rights.

This American Flavor of Freedom cannot survive without Christian Morality. The Founders were certain of this. Even those who were not explicitly Christian believed it i.e. Benjamin Franklin. Without the Christian moral ethic American Freedom does not work. The Founders and early leaders believed that without an inner set of laws to restrain Evil an outer set would be required.

…Holy Scriptures… can alone secure to society, order, and peace, and to the courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability, and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions.- James Mc Henry, Signer of the Constitution (taken from Original Intent-Barton pg 173)

Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or the bayonet.- Robert Winthrop, Speaker of the U.S. House 1847-1849 (taken from Original Intent pg 173)

American Freedom has been the greatest the world has ever known because it was disciplined by the highest moral standard, the Bible. If the Bible’s guidance and influence is removed from our society, as we are seeing, freedoms also will be removed. This I’m afraid we are also seeing. Goodness makes real freedom possible. Real freedom guided by Goodness leads to greatness. If we do not revive our commitment to the highest of moral standards i.e, “ Love thy neighbor as thy self,” we will sink into history as a once legendary, great people. Americans I beg you, make this nation great by Goodness and for the sake of Goodness. World Freedom has rested on the shoulders of Americans for two centuries. Our flavor of freedom creates, influences and nurtures the freedom of the world. It’s worth the sacrifices.

American Freedom at Stake cont...

I want to build on this notion of American Freedom. American Freedom is unique and potent but it has some standards that go with it. In order to have the kind of freedom we have enjoyed for over 230 years there are some responsibilities that come with the benefits. Those standards safe guard this liberty.

A large portion of our population has been attacking and nullifying those standards over the last 50-60 years. It has cost us a lot but these standards can be restored. It is called in old terms “revival.”

The Declaration of Independence claimed Freedom as God granted, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (Emphasis is mine.)

This is a self-evident truth, that God created and intended men to be free. Our Founding Fathers claim to this brand of freedom is uniquely American. America Freedom is based on God’s idea of what real Freedom should look like. Like no other country in the world we have proven the benefits and superiority of this kind of freedom. That is, until we abandoned the responsibilities that come with real freedom.

American men and women of their time and hundreds of thousand since have been willing to die to keep it here. What’s more inspiring is that we have been willing to die to give it to men and women in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and various places all over the world. A taste of, or just hearing about this kind of freedom changes your life forever. No other system in the world will compare after you have enjoyed the opportunity to better yourself and keep the fruit of your labor to help others. Yes, that is part of God given freedom.

God given freedom is under attack. (American freedom is under attack.) The attack was first leveled on those principles that keep freedom strong and available to all. Hard work, self responsibility, and morality that protects you and keeps you from financial dependency have all been under attack without much defense.

I spoke about the uniqueness of American freedom in the last post and quoted two prominent figures in American history. They were not the only ones. It was recognized by all American’s in the early years of our country’s life. Lincoln acknowledged it in his Gettysburg Address:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

That liberty of course is granted by God, the God that the Bible tells us of. This is a critical point because the principles, standards and responsibilities required to maintain this freedom are found in the Bible. They are distinctly Christian. Here is Lincoln again talking about our founding documents and how Americans might look to them in the future (that’s us):

“…[T]hey established these great self-evident truths that… their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew that battle which their fathers began, so that truth and justice and mercy and all humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land…Now, my countryman, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence…let me entreat you to come back…[C]ome back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence.” (Taken from Original Intent Barton pg 250.)

May I ask the same? I beg you in coming days when the financial crisis is in full bloom remember this. We don’t need a new form of freedom. We need a renewal of our original freedom with the responsibilities of it, renewal of our claim to the unalienable kind granted to us by God. This is the foundation of real freedom. It is the foundation of American freedom. The experience of this variety of freedom convicts us that we ought to keep it at all costs and that other men ought to have it too.

God is the author of the freedom our Founders tapped into. The principles in the Bible tell us how to keep it. Our Founders understood this and laid the foundation for the greatest country in the history of the world with Its guidance. We simply must return to the study of these principles.

The ability to discern Good from Evil is found there and we cannot maintain real freedom without this ability. What would American freedom be apart from God and Goodness? It would be the same as the "freedom" the French experienced in the French Revolution; Anarchy that consumed itself. It knew no guide for discerning Good and Evil.

May God bless and keep us free.

American Freedom at Stake

Dark clouds are rolling in on American History. I was watching Glenn Beck this week and he scared the beans out of me in regard to our national debt. We have made the leap into the trillions with a recklessness that is destined to do great harm. There will be an accounting for this irresponsible spending.

With this reckoning American affluence is certain to fall. I’m afraid you only learn what a trillion dollars is when you try to pay it back. This is tragic.

With this said I want to remind you of who you are. Our affluence has deceived us over the last 100 years. We Americans have come to trust in our affluence. But our Founding Fathers were wiser than to trust in wealth. Proverbs 23:5 tell us that wealth “sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” (They also knew better than to trust in politicians or government. Your can take that route if you like but if you haven’t already experienced a crushing disappointment you will.) The Founders pointed the way for us, if only we will listen. They had some wealth there is no doubt, but they knew better than to trust in it. Let me quote from the summary paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. After a long list of reasons for separating from England they pronounced:

We therefore the Representatives of the Unites States of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown and that all political connections between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliance, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
(Emphasis is mine.)

David Barton points out in his Original Intent that the Declaration of Independence was actually a dual declaration. They declared our independence from Great Britain and our dependence on God.

In this time of financial peril I should point out that they mentioned their wealth as a support to this Declaration. They put their wealth on the line for their freedom. Wealth is not the most important thing. Remember this in the coming months. Losing ones wealth is not the worst thing that could happen to you. They knew. Wealth is better to be sacrificed than be saved at the cost of ones principles.

You may have to make this choice very soon. The choice between financial stability and freedom is upon us now. We have already made the wrong choice to a large degree in letting the Federal Government prop up failed businesses that are failing for obvious reasons. In doing this we are printing trillions of dollars to dump into unhealthy businesses. Companies that are able to lose millions are very capable of losing billions. Stop. Short term financial stability is going to cost us our freedom. Stop trillion dollar deficits now.

It may already be too late. If it is, remember who you are. You are Americans. We have the recipe for real, lasting freedom. With some corrections in the power we allow our government we can renew this special experiment that has been a blessing to the world. Freedom as the world knows it was conceived, birthed and reared here. John Quincy Adams mentions this special variety of Freedom in a speech he gave on the Fourth of July 1837, “The position thus assumed by this One People consisting of thirteen free and independent states was new in the history of the world… This was a novelty in the moral philosophy of nations and it is the essential difference between the system of government announced in the Declaration of Independence and those systems which had until then prevailed among men.” (Celebrate Liberty David Barton pg 203) as does Daniel Webster in an 1851 speech, “I have said gentlemen, that our inheritance is an inheritance of American liberty. That liberty is characteristic, peculiar, and altogether our own.”(Celebrate Liberty David Barton pg 157.) The liberty we know is born from the conviction that all men are created equally and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... Our freedom is not granted by the Constitution but by God. We were the first among nations to lay claim to that Freedom for all of our citizens. Don’t ever forget it. In dark days that may be ahead, never forget this. If Freedom dies in America, where we have truly understood it, the world will sink into a very dark place.

It’s time we renewed our commitment to the second part of the dual declaration in the Declaration of Independence… a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence… Let's start the renewal in our relationship with God and discover what pleases Him as we ask for His favor.