Forgiven

Forgiveness is one of the hardest things to do for a lot of people. I know. I was one of the most vengeful people I knew! Then God took control! 

When a person offends you by word or deed, our natural carnal reaction is to get them back! Have you ever experienced road rage? Imagine a person is tailgating you, then decides to pass and nearly runs you off the road. What would you do? If that happened to me many years ago, I’d be calling them every name in the book, and speeding up to tail their bumper with my horn bellowing off and on! Thank goodness I am not like that anymore. 

One day, early in my salvation walk, God began to deal with me about unforgiveness. It dawned on me that Christ went to the cross spotless–without one stain of sin. He took our sins as if he owned them on to Himself and left them on the cross, covered with His blood. 

That had to be extremely painful. They say that death by crucifixion was one of the most painful deaths of the day. The thought of the pain he endured grabbed me.

I thought, how then can we not forgive when Christ forgave us through agonizing pain, and then with His life? It’s easy to get apathetic about the concept because we have heard about Christ’s sacrifice over and over again. 

He wants us to forgive for our own good. (But isn’t that just like God? He is always looking out for OUR good because of His infinite love for us!) 

The Bible says we need to forgive. In fact, Jesus said in the Lord’s Prayer that we need to ask forgiveness of our sins and to forgive those who have sinned against us. Why do you think it is important to forgive others? 

God is very wise. Unforgiveness of others really has no effect or malady to the offender. They aren’t the ones ill-affected by the unforgiveness. The unforgiver is! Unforgiveness can block God’s Hand in our lives. 

Matthew 6:15, But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (NIV)

Mark 11:24-25, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. (NIV)

Unforgiveness can open the door to the enemy (2 Corinthians 2:10-11), cause sicknesses and curses in our lives (Deuteronomy 27 and 28), keep us from spiritual growth (John 15:5-12) and much more. 

When I was first saved, I had a lot of hurt and emotional damage to overcome. I wore my feelings on my sleeve and sometimes inappropriately lashed out at those that were undeserving. God showed me early that unforgiveness was a poison to me. It was going to be a spiritual block, and that the only person it was hurting was me. 

The offenders had no idea I was suffering feelings against them. 

I asked God to help me forgive. I started praying for my offender’s salvation and gave them to God. That did it! That seemed to be the finale to end my brokenness. Before I knew it, those harbored ill-feelings towards my offenders lifted. I could face them and see them as God saw them, without feeling awkward because of my bad feelings and unforgiveness towards them. 

God showed me unforgiveness was key. Through the years when someone attacked me in some way, I prayed for forgiveness for my feelings towards them, asked God to forgive them, asked Him for their salvation, and gave them totally to Him. I saw Him many times work in the offender’s behalf to bring them to their knees. Sometimes I received the opportunity to witness to them, but more often than not, God took care of everything for me, and made good out of bad situations. 

On July 17, 1995, I lost my only son, Danny who was my oldest child to a drunk driver. The drunk driver ran head-on into Danny. Danny was a passenger in the vehicle that was hit. 

I was crushed and demoralized. My life had tumbled. As a Christian, I knew I had to forgive the boy who killed my son. As a human, the old unforgiveness cropped up and I wanted to kill the boy (drunk driver) over and over and over again. 

Many days were spent in my bathtub trying to grasp reality, trying to figure out why God took my Danny away from me, and trying to get the unforgiveness out of my heart. 

People would call and come over and ask what they could do for me. I would simply ask for prayer–specifically so that I could forgive the drunk driver. I knew I was NOT going to get through the grieving I was engulfed in if I didn’t forgive this boy. 

To make matters worse, the boy began to call us because the state was pressing charges against him for second-degree manslaughter. I knew God was working in my life because when the boy asked what he could do for us, I told him to give his life to Christ and go to church, letting God help him with his drinking problem so he wouldn’t harm anyone else. We showed God’s love by not lashing out at him in any way, but told him to do positive things with his life like get his GED, possibly go to Vocational Sch00l to gain a trade, etc. We always told him he was in our prayers.

The boy continued to call because he was trying to get us to do something about the charges the state had against him. He didn’t know we had no control over that. That, in itself was very hard to take because it seemed to cheapen my son’s life/death. I could see the boy hadn’t learned his lesson. We gave it to God.

God answers prayer. After a couple of months spent mostly in the bathtub, I was able to get on with my life in a new direction, not being consumed with unforgiveness. I went from thinking about the drunk driver everyday to maybe once a week. When I caught myself thinking badly, I would ask the Lord to forgive me and to continue to help me forgive the drunk driver. Now, years later, I may think of the boy who killed my son three to four times a year–never without praying for his salvation. I haven’t felt the disdain for him because of the unforgiveness for many years. To me, that was a miracle!

I don’t know much about the boy who killed my son other than that he lives about eight to ten miles from me, has married, and has his own children. He stopped calling when the Prosecuting Attorney told him to do so. Before he stopped calling, he told us he’d been to church. The last we have heard a couple of years ago from others is that he continued to drink a lot. 

I still expect him to get saved. Danny would have wanted it no other way.

The Financial Reform Bill

It seems the Obama administration is at it again! President Bush may have started the “bailout” concept, but Obama has taken it to extreme just like he has taken Bush’s Economic Stimulus to extreme! 

President Bush tried to stimulate the U.S. economy by including everybody who paid taxes in the form of a government check. Obama decided he would “one up” Bush by secretly, non-transparently, pushing and forcing Economic Stimulus in the form of waste and special projects that employed only a few, and did little for the economy except burden “the people” with more debt.

Obamacare seems to be more of the same, and has hidden language included in it to give Obama more security and “the people” less rights! It too was secretly, non-transparently pushed through Congress. “The people” again are burdened with more cost, less care, and less freedom with a hammer over our heads should we choose not to conform to buying health insurance! 

Now we have the Financial Reform Bill Obama is trying to enact. Can things get much worse? According to April 20, 2010 Right Wing News by John Hawkins, “Sen. Chris Dodd (D.-Conn.) crafted the Senate version of so-called “Financial Reform” with the support of the President. The procedure used to date resembles the non-transparent and secretive tactics used to pass ObamaCare. The Senate Banking Committee marked up the bill in 22 minutes, with no amendments offered and no debate allowed. Now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama are trying to rush the bill to the floor before the American people have a chance to understand that it contains a hidden, permanent bailout fund.”

The guise Obama wants to portray is that this bill will prevent banks from taking risks too great. If the banks should take  too great of risk, the bill will force them in to bankruptcy. That sounds fine, yet it calls for a $50 billion fund to be set up for bailouts! What? Do you see a pattern here?

Again, not many know what is in this bill, but from what little I have been able to access about it, it will weaken the U.S economy even more. 

It seems Obama says what everyone wants to hear, and does the opposite. The “opposite” thing he does, gets turned into law and it’s the law that sticks–not what he says! What he says goes by the wayside, or people forget, or dismiss. In my opinion, he is one of the most untrustworthy officials I have ever come across in my fifty-three years!

The bible says in Matthew 5:37 “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (NIV)

What is Obama’s goal? I still say he has an agenda, and that agenda is a New World Order! The New World Order has an agenda, and that is international control over the people. Who is going to be in control? The same people that are silently in control now–the political elite who are not really in politics, but are behind politics. Get it? They are the big bankers and big money people who are the ones calling the shots, and have been for years. They have everything they want, but more power and more control. The New World Order is exactly their goal to have international influence and supremacy. 

The Trilateral Commission (part of the political elite funded by Rockefeller, Kettering and Ford; founded by Greenspan and Volcker–both heads of the Federal Reserve–which is a private owned company, not a part of the U.S. government) wants nothing more than a New World Order. According to Rockefeller, the organization could “be of help to government by providing measured judgment.” The Trilateral Commission was well recieved by the Bilderbergs (an annual, unofficial, invitation-only conference of around 130 guests, most of whom are persons of influence in the fields of politics, banking, business, the military and media. Each conference is closed to the public and the press.)

The Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergs and many other influential organizations (especially big banks) are the secret politcal elite.

These “elites” want microchipping, a weakened U.S economy, the U.S military reduced and weakened so they can gain international control. They are “behind” the scenes of government, but you and I know they are the puppet masters, and government officials are the puppets here in the U.S.  The “elites” want more. That is the reason for the New World Order!

Obama is just a puppet. He has been “groomed” according to Henry Kissinger to lead the New World Order. What he is doing is no surprise. The bible speaks by means of Daniel and John of a “one-world government” loud and clear (though the wording is not “one-world government). It’s just that many didn’t think they would see it come to pass in their lifetimes! 

The Bible portrays a one-world government with a one-world leader, marks on people’s right hand or forehead (probably the microchip), in the days before Jesus returns to earth. I have heard that the “elites” have been working to bring forth biblical prophecy for some time. 

Personally, I am against socialism that will come with the New World Order and all that follows it like the microchipping, socialized medicine, one-world monetary system, (and who knows what else). I know it’s coming sooner or later because of biblical prophecy. My prayer is that it come much later so we have more time to get the gospel to all the peoples of all nations, yet it seems to be on the horizon. 

Please pray for our nation and her freedoms. The U.S. has been the anchor in getting God’s Word out to the masses!

Where Is The Media?

 

Is it just me, or have you noticed too much media attention on Tiger Woods? Why? 

The guy committed a personal offense against his wife and family, but he didn’t commit a crime! Why so much hype about him? Aren’t there other sports figures, movie stars, news anchors, etc. that have committed the same sort of egregious malfeasance? It’s not like Tiger hosted dog fights, or fixed bets on his golfing outcomes. His problem was personal and should have been kept at that level. 

I can understand why the media wanted to pick up the story in the onset, but to continually harp on it makes me wonder. 

There are many more stories out there that are either being hushed up, or there is some sort of taboo as to what citizens of the United States are allowed to hear, or not.  

Are people afraid to step up and voice their First Amendment Bill of Rights freedom of speech? Do we really have that right? I am not sure. I want to think so and believe so, but there are things that just don’t add up. 

For instance, why did the media not comment about the microchip implanting or the private army for Obama that’s a part of the healthcare reform bill? Why hasn’t the media tuned in on alleged FEMA camps–are they valid or are they concentration camps for Americans like some would have you believe? Why didn’t we find out that guns were taken away from residents that survived Katrina? 

I love my country. I love the foundations it was founded upon. I love freedom. 

It concerns me that our country is leaning far away from it’s founding principles. When government starts to take away our rights to privacy, for instance, we are not living in the country our Founding Fathers created. As most people know, every phone call, every internet website, every instant message can be traced or eaves dropped upon. The Clinton administration, prior to 9/11 used Echelon to spy on people. “Everywhere in the world, every day, people’s phone calls, emails and faxes are monitored by Echelon, a secret government surveillance network. No, it’s not fiction straight out of George Orwell’s 1984. It’s reality, says former spy Mike Frost in an interview broadcast on 60 Minutes on Sunday, Feb. 27.” (CBS 60 Minutes–Ex-Snoop Confirms Echelon Network, March 1, 2000).   http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/02/24/60minutes/main164651.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;2

“Echelon was, or is (its existence has been under—reported in the American media), an electronic eavesdropping program conducted by the United States and a few select allies such as the United Kingdom.” (William Tate, American Thinker”, January 12, 2006).  http://www.americanthinker.com/2006/01/under_clinton_ny_times_called.html

“As an example of those innocent people, Frost cites a woman whose name and telephone number went into the Echelon database as a possible terrorist because she told a friend on the phone that her son had “bombed” in a school play. The computer spit that conversation out. The analyst was not too sure what the conversation was referring to, so, erring on the side of caution, he listed that lady (as a possible terrorist), Frost recalls.” (CBS 60 Minutes–Ex-Snoop Confirms Echelon Network, March 1, 2000). http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/02/24/60minutes/main164651.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;2

During the Clinton administration, Echelon was used (or misused) abundantly. 

Why no media hype? Thank goodness 60 Minutes reported on it, but there was no media frenzy about it. Personally, I don’t know about you, but I think it is important to know the government might be spying on my personal conversations! I think it’s more relevant information than the Tiger Woods smear. Don’t you?

Have you heard about the mass exodus of Michigan? I bet not. Tiger Woods’ story is too important! 

According to Ron French and Mike Wilkinson, The Detroit News, April 2, 2009, “There are city’s worth of people moving out of the state. Since 2001, migration has cost Michigan 465,000 people, the equivalent of the combined populations of Grand Rapids, Warren and Sterling Heights — the state’s second-, third- and fourth-largest cities.” http://detnews.com/article/20090402/METRO/904020403/Leaving-Michigan-Behind–Eight-year-population-exodus-staggers-state

People there are losing jobs at an alarming rate. One obvious reason is the auto industry, but there is a trickle-down effect. Loss of people means few customers for the entrepreneur, fewer children in schools–fewer needs, thus less commerce.

 Young college educated families are having to find jobs in other states because there are none to be found in their home state. Their residents have to be foreclosed or sold for loss.  

“In the last ten years, Michigan has lost over a million jobs, most of which will not be coming back.” (Trifter, Leaving Michigan, October 18, 2009). http://trifter.com/usa-canada/michigan/leaving-michigan/  

The major media spends time talking about California and it’s financial condition. Why don’t we hear about the exodus of Michigan?

There are lots of other examples of non-media hype, some of which would make your ears curl. Actually, there are some things I have found recently that I don’t feel “free enough” to talk about! Strange things have happened to some who have brought the subjects to the forefront. It seems to me, if memory serves me correctly, the media jumped on injustices and governmental corruptions to help make wrongs right. It doesn’t seem like the media is as tuned in as it used to be. 

That brings me back to the concept of fear of our freedoms. Although we have documents stating we have freedom of speech, I am concerned that our government has changed, and abides by some of our Constitution and dismisses itself from other parts. Those that are in the powers that be, don’t want a light shined on our freedoms being quietly and slowly taken away from us. Because of this, people are afraid to speak out.  

Is the media hushed about certain issues, thus we don’t hear about them? Are we truly free? Have we gotten that far away from the Founding Father’s concepts?

Freedom doesn’t mean we have the right to hurt anyone, but there are freedoms blood has bought for us. Those Constitutional Rights are precious and empowering to be all we can be as Patriotic Americans. We cannot let them erode like they have been.

It has been my contention for years that the only true freedom we have is the freedom in  Christ.  If you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,’” (John 8:31-32). There is no freedom like the freedom God gives us when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:34-36).

Armies, Implanted Chips…Oh My!

There are some disturbing things true about this administration that most Americans don’t even have a clue. 

Last week I talked about the need for Christians to bow their knee and pray for our country. I can’t emphasize today how important it is to cry out to God about things that are going on in this administration under the guise of health care and health matters.

Did you know that one of the issues brought to light in the health care reform bill/law is the formation of a private army for Obama? Why does he need a private army (called the Ready Reserve Corps)? According to the March 27, 2010 issue of Conservative For Change, it says “The purpose of the Ready Reserve Corps is to fulfill the need to have additional Commissioned Corps personnel available on short notice (similar to the uniformed service’s reserve program) to assist regular Commissioned Corps personnel to meet both routine public health and emergency response missions.”

You can read more about this by googling “Ready Reserve Corps” or go to the aformentioned site at: http://www.conservativeforchange.com/2010/03/obama-just-got-his-private-reserve-army.html. 

So, we now need an army to deal with routine public health and emergency response? Oh deary me! Could the health care reform law be a mask to use this “army” for other purposes? Have we ever needed an army before to deal with routine public health? Or, could it be that we need the army to enforce the RFIDs (electronic chips) that the government wants Americans to have implanted under their skin? I don’t know about you, but I was appalled when I found out. 

According to the the March 25, 2010 New American by Timothy Baldwin, the government is seeking out a way to control the millions of people who will be a part of the healthcare industry. “The federal government now has the responsibility and power to control much (if not all) of the regulations and systems used in the medical industry, including how patients will be identified, processed, and treated through the system. Its vested interest in the entire medical industry and in the cost of healthcare for each person will undoubtedly create a system of control upon the lives of those within its system.

To do this, facts reveal that the federal government will utilize RFID chip technology and will require every person within the healthcare system to receive this chip into their bodies.”

An RFID is a radio frequency identification computer device placed under the skin to be used for identification, tracking, information storage and to interface with financial, commercial, business, governmental, educational and medical institutions.  

 The chip is about the size of a grain of rice and will be implanted under the skin.  (Google verichip picture to see what the one approved by the FDA looks like.)

It is proposed in HR 4872 (Reconciliation Bill) that there be a means to track patient safety for patients with devices like pacemakers. The implications include some startling wording to allow an implantable device. Check out Sean Hannity’s forum at http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?t=1896891

According to Parkersburg West Virginia Tea Party Report of March 31, 2010, Reconciliation Act H.R. 4872 Brings Microchipping to America, there seems to be a “rat” in the house! “But as usual the wording of this bill permits the creation of something entirely quite different. In 2004 the FDA approved the Verichip for use of storing medical records. This device was classified as a Class II medical device. This is most likely the Class II implantable device being referred to in this section of the bill. The bill allows the unique device identifier (Chip ID tag) to be linked to “postmarket safety patient outcome data” regarding the implantable device itself. In order “to facilitate the analyses of postmarket safety and patient outcomes” the health secretary will examine ways to gain access to Medicare health records, private sector health records and other data deemed necessary (including surveillance data) by the Health Secretary and then link it to the database and your RFID implant. Just to be accurate, section (3) defines “data” as “claims data, patient survey data, standardized analytic files that allow for the pooling and analysis of data from disparate data environments, electronic health records, and any other data deemed appropriate by the secretary.”

As with many things in government, once a door is opened, the water floods in. Who would ever have thought the Roe v. Wade decision would bring abortion to the level it is today. I agree with many others that once the RFID is implemented, it will be used to track and control far more than medical records. The implications are of Biblical proportions if you are familiar with Biblical passages in Revelations. Could this chip be the mark of the beast? I think it could be based on where this government is headed. 

According to Perry Stone, there is a powerful push for the New World Order.  For that to come to pass, there has to be controls on the people like never before. 

We are seeing biblical prophecy unfold right before our eyes. A one world government is predicted, the mark of the beast is predicted, peace throughout for a limited time is predicted, etc.  It is my prediction that “peace” will be one of the most powerful components of the ushering in of the one world government. 

The United States is in the way of the New World Order. Our freedoms, economic and military strength keep us from dependence of the need of world unification. If these areas of strength become weakened, the concept of uniting with other countries becomes more palatable to some.

I don’t think it is any coincidence that the nation’s and world’s economy is in such a mess. It’s no coincidence that Obama is trying to weaken the appearance of the United States by apologizing for it and by announcing the nuclear stance of this country in the event of attack. 

Is this a conspiracy? No, it’s been a plan in the making for decades. Kissinger has said that Obama is being groomed for leadership in the New World Order.

In an article on VIDEONETDAILY, Kissinger: Obama primed to create ‘New World Order’ posted on January 6, 2009, it says, “Conflicts across the globe and an international respect for Barack Obama have created the perfect setting for establishment of “a New World Order,” according to Henry Kissinger, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former secretary of state under President Nixon.” 

The same article goes on to quote Kissinger speaking on a news program, “The president-elect is coming into office at a moment when there is upheaval in many parts of the world simultaneously,” Kissinger responded. “You have India, Pakistan; you have the jihadist movement. So he can’t really say there is one problem, that it’s the most important one. But he can give new impetus to American foreign policy partly because the reception of him is so extraordinary around the world. His task will be to develop an overall strategy for America in this period when, really, a new world order can be created. It’s a great opportunity, it isn’t just a crisis.”

I have to wonder if we are experiencing what has been carefully planned over the decades by the political elite that are the real power behind politics. I think a New World Order is planned, but there has to be a change in our military strength, economic strength and freedoms we have known. If you think about what is going on right now, our country is in debt to China and Saudi Arabia past our eyeballs. Our military is strong, but what are we saying when we tell the world we will not retaliate to an attack with our strength of nuclear power? We definitely don’t have the freedoms we once enjoyed and as the government is showing us, we are losing more and more. 

We need to pray for this nation like never before. We are instructed in the Bible to pray for our leaders and our nation. This is a time that we need Godly intervention like no other. There are more things I will talk about in upcoming blogs, but what I have covered today gives me a strong reason to cry out to God about keeping our nation free. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16, New International Version).