Let me state at the outset that I really like Ron Paul. Of all the announced Republican candidates for President, he is far and away the best. But my comments concern his supporters, and it's just a caveat: Ron is running for President, not Savior. I have no doubt that he would set nothing but good precendents, that his appointments would be stellar, and that, if given the necessary support, he would do more to enhance and restore this country than anybody since maybe Andrew Jackson.
Having said that, I still think it needs to be repeated often that we didn't wind up in this mess because we voted for the wrong guys. This country is suffering from severe moral lapses. The blood of over 50 million dead babies still cries out to the Lord for vengeance, as does the blood of countless tens of thousands of others whose untimely demise is directly attributable to overt or covert actions of American political regimes. And we remained complicit as long as the market was bullish. We continued to look the other way, default on our moral and civic responsibilities, and go along with the status quo when we thought it was too hard or too unpopular to do otherwise.
If there are not tears in the streets, I still fear there will be blood, even if Ron Paul is elected. He may be the leader God gives us to shepherd this country through its repentance. But repentance there must be before national restoration and renewal can occur.
We can't just elect one 'good guy' and expect that everything will be fine.
So, to my fellow Ron Paul supporters I say: let's bear in mind that this is a spiritual mess we're in, and let's become the kind of people who deserve a Ron Paul presidency.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Take Your Conscience To Work - National Campaign
We really don't need pastors to be out in the street or in the face of all those unbelievers out there. All we really need is pastors who aren't afraid of their congregations and who will challenge their people to "Take Their Conscience To Work" - and hold them strictly accountable if they don't.
What most of us don't understand -- or refuse to believe -- is that WE ARE DOING THIS TO OURSELVES. The IRS doesn't send an agent from Utah or WashDC to harass us and steal our stuff. They have a local office, and a sheriff, and a judge, etc. etc. These local people are members of our churches, or neighbors, maybe even members of our families. The places where they work run because WE staff the offices and 'turn the wheels.' If all the 'behind-the-scenes' people, the clerks and so forth, simply REFUSE to participate in illegal activities, the whole process stops. True, it will tend to stop quicker if the judges and our elected officials stop their state-sponsored terrorism against us (is there any rational person who thinks the IRS is not a terrorist organization?), but if every Christian finally decides to just do what's right, the system will grind to a halt.
But we don't. We Christians continue to function and give our little daily pushes to the wheels of tyranny because we say, "I'm not really doing anything wrong. I just _______ (open the mail, answer the phone, administer the network, take out the trash, etc.) If our duties, as menial as they might be, were not essential to the functioning of the business or office, our jobs would be eliminated. If immorality, societal decay, socialism and tyranny are being promoted in any way by the business you are in, you are contributing to it.
So I think "Take Your Conscience To Work" should become a rallying cry of the patriots. Let's truly integrate our Christian principles in our life's work and refuse to do anything that contributes to the further decay of our culture. The problem isn't Mexicans coming over the border, or megalomaniacs in DC. The problem is that we each, in our own little ways, contribute to tyranny every day. Why? Because 'we need the money,' and if we don't perform, we don't get paid. And if we are willing to be slaves to mammon, we will get just what we deserve.
Perhaps this is why neither Jesus, nor John the Baptist, nor Paul railed against the oppressive Roman government. They each realized that the empire's engine of oppression could only operate with local support. So instead of decrying 'the government,' John specifically addressed the agents through whom tyranny was exercised: "Collect no more than what is appointed for you." "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages." (Luke 3:13-14) No railing against "the system" and no attempt to change policy or politics. Just do what's right.
Jesus also dealt with the tax system when He called Matthew: "Follow Me." (Mark 2:14) That was it; one less tax collector for the people to deal with. What will happen if every Christian in the government decides to truly follow Christ, instead of just paying Him lip-service on Sunday? And what would happen if, as I suggested previously, the pastors would hold their members accountable for seven-days-a-week discipleship? Jesus saw two clear and exclusive loyalties: God and Mammon. It's gotta be one or the other; can't be neither and can't be both.
Paul said, "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hand the thing that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need." (Ephesians 4:28) We all know (or sure should by now!) that the mis-applied 'income' tax is simply theft. Those who promote it and those who benefit from it are stealing property. Again, Paul does not rail against 'the system' but rather simply tells Christian participants to drop out of it.
Most Christians I've met are too immature to understand the power of this sort of obedience, even though Jesus Himself explained it in clear terms in Matthew 16:19. Your un-Christian neighbor wants to be 'just as good as a Christian' (is supposed to be) but doesn't want to get involved with church, religion, or (God forbid!) obnoxious Christian people. Still, the standard is set by the people of God. When we quit trying to tell the world how they should live (self-righteousness or holier-than-thou, both nauseating to Christ) and start living as we ought, we will raise the bar and set the standard to which the culture must rise if they want to be 'just as good as a Christian.'
It's really no more complicated than that. As long as we're content to gather in our little buildings and sing our little songs and have our little Bible studies, the world and the culture will remain unchanged. As long as we continue to ROT as we pretend to be disciples and are really just compliant cowards, our culture will continue to deteriorate. Chuck Missler has pointed out that "faith is not belief in spite of the evidence. It is obedience in spite of the consequences."
When we start taking Christ seriously and we take our Biblically-informed consciences to work: when we refuse as a matter of faith and obedience to participate in any way to the further destruction of our culture, THEN we will start having an impact.
The longer we wait, the bloodier and messier it will be.
What most of us don't understand -- or refuse to believe -- is that WE ARE DOING THIS TO OURSELVES. The IRS doesn't send an agent from Utah or WashDC to harass us and steal our stuff. They have a local office, and a sheriff, and a judge, etc. etc. These local people are members of our churches, or neighbors, maybe even members of our families. The places where they work run because WE staff the offices and 'turn the wheels.' If all the 'behind-the-scenes' people, the clerks and so forth, simply REFUSE to participate in illegal activities, the whole process stops. True, it will tend to stop quicker if the judges and our elected officials stop their state-sponsored terrorism against us (is there any rational person who thinks the IRS is not a terrorist organization?), but if every Christian finally decides to just do what's right, the system will grind to a halt.
But we don't. We Christians continue to function and give our little daily pushes to the wheels of tyranny because we say, "I'm not really doing anything wrong. I just _______ (open the mail, answer the phone, administer the network, take out the trash, etc.) If our duties, as menial as they might be, were not essential to the functioning of the business or office, our jobs would be eliminated. If immorality, societal decay, socialism and tyranny are being promoted in any way by the business you are in, you are contributing to it.
So I think "Take Your Conscience To Work" should become a rallying cry of the patriots. Let's truly integrate our Christian principles in our life's work and refuse to do anything that contributes to the further decay of our culture. The problem isn't Mexicans coming over the border, or megalomaniacs in DC. The problem is that we each, in our own little ways, contribute to tyranny every day. Why? Because 'we need the money,' and if we don't perform, we don't get paid. And if we are willing to be slaves to mammon, we will get just what we deserve.
Perhaps this is why neither Jesus, nor John the Baptist, nor Paul railed against the oppressive Roman government. They each realized that the empire's engine of oppression could only operate with local support. So instead of decrying 'the government,' John specifically addressed the agents through whom tyranny was exercised: "Collect no more than what is appointed for you." "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages." (Luke 3:13-14) No railing against "the system" and no attempt to change policy or politics. Just do what's right.
Jesus also dealt with the tax system when He called Matthew: "Follow Me." (Mark 2:14) That was it; one less tax collector for the people to deal with. What will happen if every Christian in the government decides to truly follow Christ, instead of just paying Him lip-service on Sunday? And what would happen if, as I suggested previously, the pastors would hold their members accountable for seven-days-a-week discipleship? Jesus saw two clear and exclusive loyalties: God and Mammon. It's gotta be one or the other; can't be neither and can't be both.
Paul said, "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hand the thing that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need." (Ephesians 4:28) We all know (or sure should by now!) that the mis-applied 'income' tax is simply theft. Those who promote it and those who benefit from it are stealing property. Again, Paul does not rail against 'the system' but rather simply tells Christian participants to drop out of it.
Most Christians I've met are too immature to understand the power of this sort of obedience, even though Jesus Himself explained it in clear terms in Matthew 16:19. Your un-Christian neighbor wants to be 'just as good as a Christian' (is supposed to be) but doesn't want to get involved with church, religion, or (God forbid!) obnoxious Christian people. Still, the standard is set by the people of God. When we quit trying to tell the world how they should live (self-righteousness or holier-than-thou, both nauseating to Christ) and start living as we ought, we will raise the bar and set the standard to which the culture must rise if they want to be 'just as good as a Christian.'
It's really no more complicated than that. As long as we're content to gather in our little buildings and sing our little songs and have our little Bible studies, the world and the culture will remain unchanged. As long as we continue to ROT as we pretend to be disciples and are really just compliant cowards, our culture will continue to deteriorate. Chuck Missler has pointed out that "faith is not belief in spite of the evidence. It is obedience in spite of the consequences."
When we start taking Christ seriously and we take our Biblically-informed consciences to work: when we refuse as a matter of faith and obedience to participate in any way to the further destruction of our culture, THEN we will start having an impact.
The longer we wait, the bloodier and messier it will be.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Cowardice and Hypocrisy Leading to Tyranny
I want to clarify something that I think most Patriots and Christians still don't get. Chuck Baldwin has identified it as cowardice in the pulpit. I think he's accurate as far as he goes, but the picture he has presented is incomplete.
There are hundreds of thousands of us who toddle off to work every day. These are the people who keep things running. The clerk, the mechanic, the radio announcer, the Congressional aide, the insurance salesman. Many of these people also go to church on Sunday.
But these people, by and large, have not integrated what they profess on Sunday with what they do on the job. They are like the politician who says "I will not let my personal opinions influence the way I will conduct my office if I am elected." Most people think this is just the politician promising 'fairness.' I see it as a politician promising an office that lacks integrity. Fact is, we WANT officials whose conduct is consistent with their character, and we want to vote for people whose character matches ours or, even better, matches that of Christ.
For Christians, the 'salt' and 'light' in the world, the issue is deeper. As disciples of Christ, we are REQUIRED to integrate our faith with our life. Christianity isn't a religion; it's a dynamic day-by-day relationship with our Creator through Christ. We are to reflect and live out the presence of God in our lives all day, every day.
We little cogs in the wheel, however, are 'just doing our jobs.' That pathetic and unGodly Nuremberg defense is still with us.
What would happen if Christians would simply REFUSE to violate their consciences at work? The sheriff who refuses to enforce what he knows is an unlawful order, the insurance salesman who refuses to promote an immoral insurance contract, the banker who refuses to go along with an unconscionable deal? OR -- the Christian bureaucrats who are salted through the current regime who are just following orders, or who feel that because their role in some odious program is so minor that whether or not they comply, they can't stop the machine but they CAN get fired. "And, after all, God DOES want me to support my family, doesn't He?"
It is the pastors and, to a lesser extent, the elders, who must confront this rank hypocrisy in the flocks. If a Christian, for instance, is 'just the receptionist' in a clinic that just does an occasional abortion every once in a while, that Christian needs to be told that there is a MAJOR ISSUE here and that he/she had better take a stand or else his/her sorry butt will be thrown out of the church and into the gutter where it belongs. Harsh? That's what Jesus Himself said! Savorless salt belongs in the gutter, to be trodden underfoot by men.
I am not complaining about pastors who refuse to confront the culture. I don't think that's their job. They (along with evangelists, apostles, prophets and teachers) were given to the church to equip the people of God. My complaint is with pastors who refuse to confront the hypocrites in their own congregations. Who offer warm and fuzzy and entertaining sermons Sunday after Sunday; whose congregations never weep ... or see a reason to.
What we need is a "Take Your Conscience To Work" campaign where everyone who names the name of Christ is charged with the responsibility of discovering the mission of his employer and the implications of everything he/she does, and say 'NO!' whenever any work activity tends toward the further destruction of our culture and our country.
Michael New had the courage to refuse to obey a manifestly unlawful order. Most of us are too consumed with the pursuit of the rapidly depreciating FRN to do the same. If we don't have the courage to live as free people and say NO! to the oncoming tyranny, we will get the tyranny. We are doing this to ourselves and the battle line is drawn between every pulpit in the country and the people who are charged to be salt and light.
When the worker-bees stop, everything stops.
I recently had my car STOLEN by the "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA" (a federal corporation). The deputy who came out to actually steal my car KNEW something was wrong. He KNEW he had no moral right, nor did the STATE, to take my car (or my money). But he didn't have the ethics or the guts to tell his higher-ups. It was easier for him to just obey orders. Tyranny wears the uniform of the police and Sheriff, and these are the ones who will enforce our destruction. And MANY of these cops and deputies go to churches; churches where the pastors don't have the guts to tell the truth.
There are hundreds of thousands of us who toddle off to work every day. These are the people who keep things running. The clerk, the mechanic, the radio announcer, the Congressional aide, the insurance salesman. Many of these people also go to church on Sunday.
But these people, by and large, have not integrated what they profess on Sunday with what they do on the job. They are like the politician who says "I will not let my personal opinions influence the way I will conduct my office if I am elected." Most people think this is just the politician promising 'fairness.' I see it as a politician promising an office that lacks integrity. Fact is, we WANT officials whose conduct is consistent with their character, and we want to vote for people whose character matches ours or, even better, matches that of Christ.
For Christians, the 'salt' and 'light' in the world, the issue is deeper. As disciples of Christ, we are REQUIRED to integrate our faith with our life. Christianity isn't a religion; it's a dynamic day-by-day relationship with our Creator through Christ. We are to reflect and live out the presence of God in our lives all day, every day.
We little cogs in the wheel, however, are 'just doing our jobs.' That pathetic and unGodly Nuremberg defense is still with us.
What would happen if Christians would simply REFUSE to violate their consciences at work? The sheriff who refuses to enforce what he knows is an unlawful order, the insurance salesman who refuses to promote an immoral insurance contract, the banker who refuses to go along with an unconscionable deal? OR -- the Christian bureaucrats who are salted through the current regime who are just following orders, or who feel that because their role in some odious program is so minor that whether or not they comply, they can't stop the machine but they CAN get fired. "And, after all, God DOES want me to support my family, doesn't He?"
It is the pastors and, to a lesser extent, the elders, who must confront this rank hypocrisy in the flocks. If a Christian, for instance, is 'just the receptionist' in a clinic that just does an occasional abortion every once in a while, that Christian needs to be told that there is a MAJOR ISSUE here and that he/she had better take a stand or else his/her sorry butt will be thrown out of the church and into the gutter where it belongs. Harsh? That's what Jesus Himself said! Savorless salt belongs in the gutter, to be trodden underfoot by men.
I am not complaining about pastors who refuse to confront the culture. I don't think that's their job. They (along with evangelists, apostles, prophets and teachers) were given to the church to equip the people of God. My complaint is with pastors who refuse to confront the hypocrites in their own congregations. Who offer warm and fuzzy and entertaining sermons Sunday after Sunday; whose congregations never weep ... or see a reason to.
What we need is a "Take Your Conscience To Work" campaign where everyone who names the name of Christ is charged with the responsibility of discovering the mission of his employer and the implications of everything he/she does, and say 'NO!' whenever any work activity tends toward the further destruction of our culture and our country.
Michael New had the courage to refuse to obey a manifestly unlawful order. Most of us are too consumed with the pursuit of the rapidly depreciating FRN to do the same. If we don't have the courage to live as free people and say NO! to the oncoming tyranny, we will get the tyranny. We are doing this to ourselves and the battle line is drawn between every pulpit in the country and the people who are charged to be salt and light.
When the worker-bees stop, everything stops.
I recently had my car STOLEN by the "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA" (a federal corporation). The deputy who came out to actually steal my car KNEW something was wrong. He KNEW he had no moral right, nor did the STATE, to take my car (or my money). But he didn't have the ethics or the guts to tell his higher-ups. It was easier for him to just obey orders. Tyranny wears the uniform of the police and Sheriff, and these are the ones who will enforce our destruction. And MANY of these cops and deputies go to churches; churches where the pastors don't have the guts to tell the truth.
Monday, August 13, 2007
More on Tom Cryer
I never felt so nauseated.
I posted a question regarding Tom's income tax trial on the Answers forum at Yahoo! While I hesitate to make an unwarranted inference from the responses I received, it's hard to be optimistic. Among the pearls of 'wisdom' that were contributed by various respondents:
"PepsiLime" contributed what was voted to be the 'best' answer. He/she offered "I don't think they allow a website to be operated in prison while you're serving time for tax fraud, tax evasion, and whatever other charges he'll get convicted of." This is the 'best' answer? Well, P-Slime, until you and your fellow communistic, socialistic misfits take absolute control, we will still have something called protection from double jeopardy. Did you even read my post? Tom Cryer had a criminal trial and he was found NOT GUILTY. That means the jury decided he DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG. So why, pray tell, would he still find himself serving time? And why did the rest of you morons choose this as the "best answer"?
Numbercruncher opines "You do not have the God given right to work or to own property. The declaration of Idependence [sic] is pretty clear on this issue." He adds "In the end we would all love to keep more of our money, but we also like our parks, raods, sewers, water system, police and so on - taxes are what pay for that." Numbercruncher's response is almost as lame as the one offered by Pepsi Slime. Another Nazi, Numb has obviously never even read the source document he references. This state-worshipper seems to think that all good things come, not from God our Creator, but from the federal government. Another lame brain. Clueless.
Judy, designated a 'top contributor,' weighs in with this gem: "I don't think that God gets involved in property rights." I guess she doesn't think God had much to do with Deuteronomy, either. The eighth Commandment says "Thou shalt not steal." If no one has any rights to property, the concept of 'theft' is nonsense. What you really believe, you Nazi, is that the government owns everything.
Ronald E B came in on the shallow end: "The 16th amendment to the constitution was ratified by the states in 1913. It has been the law ever since. It says, in part:"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived..."That is pretty clear. Those who argue that congress doesn't have the right to tax income have never won in the 94 years since it became the law of the land." He remains blissfully ignorant of how the term 'income' is legally defined, and is also unaware of the massive fraud in the so-called 'ratification' of the 16th. In any event, the courts have correctly ruled that the 16th, (whether ratified or not) granted no new powers to the Congress. Another state-worshipper, or coward (or both) who has no knowledge of the issue, or law, or history.
Bostonianinmo thought Cryer got lucky but is a moron anyway for challenging the system. So was Paul Revere, right?
NGC6205 says, "Please don't fall for tax protestor rhetoric. Most tax protestors are delusional." Delusional? I'd say NGC6205 should look into a mirror. Apparently, he thinks he's a license plate.
I'm not surprised at the lack of legal understanding of most who responded, since the legal craft has worked for over 70 years to make the Code as incomprehensible as possible. The puking factor, however, is the amount of socialistic ardor these posters have for the income tax. I would expect that a true American would be appalled by the very thought of either rights coming from government, or of civil government having an inherent legitimate claim on the property or labor of any natural person. But these folks seem to be okay with the American Socialist Empire, with government crushing people and stealing property.
Well, Americans -- most of you are a disgrace to the principles upon which our nation was founded. As Samuel Adams said, "Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." Because you have forgotten God, He will also forget your children. And that noble experiment in liberty under Law will be relegated to the ash-heap of history. You will all be slaves on the federal plantation, and the banquet of prosperity we enjoyed under a rubric of limited civil government will just be a dim memory.
I posted a question regarding Tom's income tax trial on the Answers forum at Yahoo! While I hesitate to make an unwarranted inference from the responses I received, it's hard to be optimistic. Among the pearls of 'wisdom' that were contributed by various respondents:
"PepsiLime" contributed what was voted to be the 'best' answer. He/she offered "I don't think they allow a website to be operated in prison while you're serving time for tax fraud, tax evasion, and whatever other charges he'll get convicted of." This is the 'best' answer? Well, P-Slime, until you and your fellow communistic, socialistic misfits take absolute control, we will still have something called protection from double jeopardy. Did you even read my post? Tom Cryer had a criminal trial and he was found NOT GUILTY. That means the jury decided he DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG. So why, pray tell, would he still find himself serving time? And why did the rest of you morons choose this as the "best answer"?
Numbercruncher opines "You do not have the God given right to work or to own property. The declaration of Idependence [sic] is pretty clear on this issue." He adds "In the end we would all love to keep more of our money, but we also like our parks, raods, sewers, water system, police and so on - taxes are what pay for that." Numbercruncher's response is almost as lame as the one offered by Pepsi Slime. Another Nazi, Numb has obviously never even read the source document he references. This state-worshipper seems to think that all good things come, not from God our Creator, but from the federal government. Another lame brain. Clueless.
Judy, designated a 'top contributor,' weighs in with this gem: "I don't think that God gets involved in property rights." I guess she doesn't think God had much to do with Deuteronomy, either. The eighth Commandment says "Thou shalt not steal." If no one has any rights to property, the concept of 'theft' is nonsense. What you really believe, you Nazi, is that the government owns everything.
Ronald E B came in on the shallow end: "The 16th amendment to the constitution was ratified by the states in 1913. It has been the law ever since. It says, in part:"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived..."That is pretty clear. Those who argue that congress doesn't have the right to tax income have never won in the 94 years since it became the law of the land." He remains blissfully ignorant of how the term 'income' is legally defined, and is also unaware of the massive fraud in the so-called 'ratification' of the 16th. In any event, the courts have correctly ruled that the 16th, (whether ratified or not) granted no new powers to the Congress. Another state-worshipper, or coward (or both) who has no knowledge of the issue, or law, or history.
Bostonianinmo thought Cryer got lucky but is a moron anyway for challenging the system. So was Paul Revere, right?
NGC6205 says, "Please don't fall for tax protestor rhetoric. Most tax protestors are delusional." Delusional? I'd say NGC6205 should look into a mirror. Apparently, he thinks he's a license plate.
I'm not surprised at the lack of legal understanding of most who responded, since the legal craft has worked for over 70 years to make the Code as incomprehensible as possible. The puking factor, however, is the amount of socialistic ardor these posters have for the income tax. I would expect that a true American would be appalled by the very thought of either rights coming from government, or of civil government having an inherent legitimate claim on the property or labor of any natural person. But these folks seem to be okay with the American Socialist Empire, with government crushing people and stealing property.
Well, Americans -- most of you are a disgrace to the principles upon which our nation was founded. As Samuel Adams said, "Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." Because you have forgotten God, He will also forget your children. And that noble experiment in liberty under Law will be relegated to the ash-heap of history. You will all be slaves on the federal plantation, and the banquet of prosperity we enjoyed under a rubric of limited civil government will just be a dim memory.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
