TULIP

Have you ever heard of the acrostic TULIP used to expound upon the Doctrines of Grace? Do you agree? You might be surprised to see that you do. While you might not use the same terminology you might actually believe in the doctrine.

Total Depravity - Almost all Christians will agree that we are all sinners and need a savior. If we have sinned we have violated at least one point of the Law. The Bible teaches that if you are guilty of one violation you are guilty of ALL.

James 2:10 (NKJV) “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”

Romans 5:8 (NKJV) “⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Unconditional Election – Again almost all Christians will readily admit that there is neither a sinner so bad nor a sin so terrible that God can’t forgive them. They will admit that God will save anyone, so there are no human conditions needed for Salvation. The sticking point is who does the choosing. If it is God all Glory to God. On the other hand; if I have chosen God and it was the volition of my own will that saved me then who gets the Glory?

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV) ^“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

John 1:12-13 (ESV) “¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Limited Atonement – Most Christians have an objection to this doctrine, yet they will almost all agree that there is at least one, and probably many more people in Hell. Therefore whether they will admit it or not they believe that the Atonement of Christ was limited to those that are or will be in heaven. Therefore; they believe in Limited Atonement rather they will admit it or not.

John 10:25-26 (ESV) “²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.”

John 6:64 (ESV) “⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)”

Irresistible Grace – If God has called us who can resist? If we can resist are we greater then God’s will? Almost all will agree that God can harden hearts to unbelief. Why not then can he not soften our hearts and call us to him. If he calls how can we resist.

John 6:65 (ESV)“⁶⁵ And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

John 6:44 (ESV)“⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

Perseverance of the Saints – For my Christian brothers and sisters that believe that we have a choice and through our own free will can choose to believe in Christ, Jesus and receive the gift of Salvation; this is a very tricky doctrine. Many who say we choose and make a decision for Christ will also say, “Once saved, always saved.” Yet, if I chose God of my own free will then why can’t I then un-choose him and decide not to believe? If all that is required for me to lose my Salvation is my will then where is my hope. My Salvation now rests on me and me alone. It is not God who saves but my will. If on the other hand if God chose me then it is him who keeps me by his will.

John 6:37-39 (ESV) “³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

John 10: 27-30 (ESV) “²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

T -- total depravity. This doesn't mean people are as bad as they can be. It means that sin is in every part of one's being, including the mind and will, so that a man cannot save himself.

U -- unconditional election. God chooses to save people unconditionally; that is, they are not chosen on the basis of their own merit.

L -- limited atonement. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was for the purpose of saving the elect.

I -- irresistible grace. When God has chosen to save someone, He will.

P -- perseverance of the saints. Those people God chooses cannot lose their salvation; they will continue to believe. If they fall away, it will be only for a time.

Praise God

Watch the whole video to the right. You will be blessed.

The Cost of Justice

Cost of Justice

Kyle M. Anderson

Introduction

What is the cost of justice? How can we even qualify that? Justice should and must be served at any cost. There is no cost/benefit analysis that can be conducted that will truly be representative of  the true cost of justice. We can look at the cost of running our jails and prisons. We can examine the cost in dollars and man-power in our court systems. We can study the perceived benefits and social cost of our system. We can quantify and plug in statistics until we are blue in the face, yet we still have not defined the cost. Has justice been served? That is the only true cost/benefit analysis that matters. God demands that justice be served, Deuteronomy 16:19-21 “Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), 2001).

As we can never fulfill perfect justice here on earth and since we must quantify the cost of justice in terms we can define I shall examine the cost in dollars, man-power, and the social cost of operating our justice system.

The Cost: defined

             To define the cost we must define the terms we are using. We have several costs involved. First is the monetary cost: the cost in dollars. Second we have the man-power cost: the amount of time our corrections, courts and legal personnel invest in serving justice. Third we have the societal cost: the cost that society bears in the confidence of our system and the feelings of security it brings.

The Benefit: defined

            To define the benefit we need to clarify what we define as the benefits of our system. There are several factors to examine in defining the benefits. First and primary is that justice is served. Second; provide a safe and secure environment to incarcerate the offenders. Third; remand the offender away from the public in order to rehabilitate them prior to release so that they will not re-offend.

The Cost/Benefits Analysis

Cost

            Monetary Cost: In fiscal year 2010, North Carolina spent $1,095,395,000 in direct prison costs, $109,272,000 in prison costs outside the corrections budget, for a total taxpayer amount of $1,204,667,000 or slightly over 9% of the state budget (Henrichson, 2012). Of the forty states that participated in the VERA study the total expenditures were: $38,903,304.000 or approximately 13.9% of the budget (Henrichson, 2012).

            Man-Power Cost: The cost of man-power is to broad a spectrum to quantify. Countless hours are spent by criminal justice personnel in running our system. Form the police officer on the street to the corrections officer in the prison there are thousands of people behind the scenes that the public never sees.

            Societal Cost: When the public loses confidence in the integrity of the system there is an unidentifiable societal cost. Cases such as the OJ Simpson murder trial and the more recent Casey Anthony trial erode the public’s confidence that justice can be served. Both of these cases cost the tax payers and extreme amount of money for negligible results.

Benefit.

Justice Served: How can we quantify if justice was served? The simplistic model would say the guilty were convicted and the innocent were freed. Overall we do a pretty good job of that. A study conducted in 1996 suggested that the number of innocents convicted of serious crimes was estimated conservatively at 0.5 percent. Of the 1,993,880 convictions for index crimes in 1990 that means nearly 10,000 innocents were wrongfully convicted (Huff, 1996). Still that is a 99.5% success rate and we are only human.

            Safe and Secure: In terms of safety and security of our jails and prisons no other country can even come close to our system. So we succeed in this area, but is it worth the over $30,000 we spend per inmate. Yes, when inmates are in our custody they are our responsibility.

            Remand/Rehabilitate: This is another are to diverse to define effectively. The national recidivism rate is around 70% (Bureau of Justice Statitics, 2012). This would suggest that perhaps we are failing in the rehabilitation of the inmates.               

Analysis

The benefit is much harder to determine. Simply in terms of cost per inmate, with the 2010 prison population in North Carolina, (not counting prison inmates held in local jails), of 40,116 (Guerino, 2011) the cost per inmate is $30,029. Unfortunately this still does not count the whole cost as there are many prison inmates housed in local jails at a cost to the taxpayer as well.

Summery

            It is my belief that there can be no realistic cost/benefit analysis of Justice. God demands us to seek justice and God is just. We cannot achieve perfection but a 99.5% conviction is pretty good. The cost of justice is high, but the cost of injustice is even higher. 2 Chronicles 19:7 "Now let the fear of the LORD be on you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” (Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), 2001)

Bibliography

Bureau of Justice Statitics. (2012). Recidivism.

Guerino, P. H. (2011). Prisoners in 2010. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Henrichson, C. a. (2012). The Price of Prisons. VERA Institute of Justice.

Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). (2001). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Huff, C. (1996). Convicted But Innocent: Wrongful Conviction and Public Policy. Sage.

The new extended LES MIS trailer

CHECK IT OUT, can't wait

When in the course....

30 States Petition Federal Government to Secede After Election

November 12, 2012 at 8:53pm by Mytheos Holt

Liberals often like to compare President Barack Obama to former President Abraham Lincoln. The comparison is usually dismissed as laughably hagiographical, but judging by one unexpected bit of fallout from Tuesday’s election, it could well end up being accurate in just one respect: Like Lincoln, Obama is facing requests by the citizens of numerous states to secede from the union.

However, unlike with Lincoln, these requests are peaceful, and highly unlikely to do anything at all except generate news headlines. A massive number of petitions are currently circulating on Change.org, a website designed to call for action by the federal government or by private institutions on particular causes, calling for particular states to be granted permission to secede.
Nor are they confined to the usual suspects (IE the Southern States). In actuality, the mix of states asking to secede is deeply bipartisan, ranging from the deeply red (Alabama and South Carolina) to the deeply blue (New York) to the swing (Pennsylvania). Nor are the states asking to secede in any way geographically clustered. Northern states (New York), Midwestern states (Michigan), Southern states (Alabama) and Western states (Nevada) have all filed petitions of their own. Most swing states this election cycle, with the exception of Ohio, have a petition of their own, and all of them have at least 1,000 signatures, with even some of the bluest states in the union easily keeping pace with their red counterparts.
Is this simply the product of a few thousand discontents in each individual state? Perhaps. But Texas’ petition has over 40,000 signatures, well over the 25,000 necessary to reach the attention of the President. If this turns out to be more than the discontented murmurings of a single state, this story may get ugly.
Additionally, here is a list of all the states with petitions to secede on WhiteHouse.gov:

• Delaware
• California
• Ohio
• Nevada
• Pennsylvania
• Arizona
• Oklahoma
• Arkansas
• South Carolina
• Georgia
• Missouri
• Tennessee
• Michigan
• New York
• Colorado
• Oregon
• New Jersey
• North Dakota
• Montana
• Indiana
• Mississippi
• Kentucky
• Florida
• North Carolina
• Alabama
• Texas
• Louisiana

A Republic, if you can keep it...

How do I feel? I am saddened. I am saddened for our country that was, I am saddened for our country that is and for our country that will be. I stopped calling myself a Republican years ago when “W” was president. I fear our Republic is dead. I have heard pundits say the Republican Party died in this election. No it was the Republic that died. It was on life support but now it has passed on. I am not sure what we are now but the founding fathers would not recognize us as the free republic they gave all to establish. A quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin just about sums it all up “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” In the last few years I have seen and heard many things that have caused me to despair. Talking with coworkers, inmates and random people on the street I have met a few who are well informed and knowledgeable about the state of our country and the issues affecting us all. Unfortunately the majority are woefully uninformed and either ignorant or purposefully spouting lies to the true state of our country. I personally believe that it is ignorance.  The general population is simply ignorant about our founding, the Constitution, economics, our government, so called “entitlement” programs, taxes and just about any other issue you can think of. They see money from the Government growing on trees or coming out of some magic pot. They do not know and cannot conceive the true size of the annual deficit and our national debt. Tax the rich they say and all will be fine. They have plenty of money. Even if we took every penny all of the millionaires in America had. It would not close the annual deficit. We do not have a revenue problem we have a spending problem. Another quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin says “This will be the best security for maintaining our liberties. A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins.”

Dragon Baby

Watch the new video!

FaceBook is in the bag for Obama

FaceBook has removed the picture below because they say it violates thier policies. I think they are violate my intelligence. I posted it on my FaceBook page and I urge everyone to do it.

The end, God and Elections

Election Day is coming. For some it is already here and gone. North Carolina has early voting. I am not too sure on how I feel about that. I have voted early in the past. It is pretty convenient. If I was to go on Election Day after work I would be there for several hours waiting in line. I might go early again this year as well.

I am not very thrilled with my choices again. I am more voting against someone then for someone. I would much rather have a real choice and a clear difference between the candidates. Both sides talk a lot but I really do not expect much to change. Neither of the two parties has any real will or guts to do anything significant. Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Welfare and other “entitlement" programs will continue to bankrupt us. They will continue to suck us dry until we can simply no longer sustain our economy and we will collapse into ruin.

I see a dark day in the not so distant future when the USA we have will be no more. One-World Government is coming. It is promised by God himself. I have never understood Christians that fight against the coming of the One-World Government. God said it will happen and has to happen before Christs return. This will happen before the end so I say bring it on. While it will be hard, we will suffer, there will be much gnashing of teeth and sorrow. Come Lord Jesus. Come.

My Dad

My father passed away last month. My aunt sent me a scrapebook she made for me. it was pretty awesome. Here are a couple of pictures from it.

Back to it.

It has been too long and I have not posted. I have had a lot going on in my life. I will try to keep it up more.  At the right is a video I found. I was encouraged by it and I hope you are too.

 God Bless

The Great Commission

     Matthew 28:19-20 is often called "The Great Commission." What is it that we are commissioned to do? 

     I will quote to you now from the translation of the Bible that I look to the most for my inspiration. It is where I draw most of my daily living from, the “Luke-Warm Comfortable American Evangelical Bible” Matthew 28:19-20:

     “Go ye therefore to safe and convenient places for at most a couple of weeks, eliciting a meaningless emotional response, don’t bother teaching them to obey everything I have commanded onto you, just hand them a Bible and leave, and Lo I am with you always even as you return to your comfortable life and leave them in misery.”

     That is how we view it. And not just in the great commission. I am convicted today that as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes that life is meaningless. What am I doing?

Let’s break it down a bit. Matthew 28:19-20 says:

     “Therefore go” literally “As you are going, where ever you are” It does not say “Therefore go on a mission trip” it says go.

     “make disciples of all nations” Make Disciples! Not get a confession of sin, not get them to say the sinners prayer, not do a hit and run salvation mission. Make Disciples.

     “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” This is easier to do but I think it means a lot more than just getting them wet. A baptism without true conversion is just a quick bath.

     “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” This is disciple making. We cannot teach them all we have been taught in 30 minutes. It takes a long time. It takes a relationship. It takes us pouring ourselves into them, as Jesus was poured into us by others before us.

     “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” We do not do anything through our own power. It is the power of Jesus that gets things done. We are but weak and broken vessels, He is the power.

     This needs to start first and foremost in my home. 1 Timothy 3:4-5 "He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)

     As I go about my life I am to be a light unto the darkness. I am to be a city on a hill. As I walk the jail daily I should be Christ to the inmates and my fellow workers. I should talk to them, Show them God’s love and for my fellow workers share my belief with them. As I form a relationship with them I share my life with them. As I share my life with them I share Christ with them. As I share Christ with them I share Life with them. I am disciplining them. I am making disciples. 

What is an Old Testament Narrative?

What is an Old Testament narrative?

     A narrative is a story, a history, more importantly, it is HIStory. The story of God and his people presented to teach us about who God is and who we are. They show us our place in Him and act as a guide to direct us in Godly living. However, they are much more than that. They also show us that we are not and cannot be perfect. Even David the ‘man after God’s own heart’ was a sinner who stumbled. As a Christian when we read the narratives, we must realize they are our histories as well.

     How are we to read our HIStory? Is it as simple as reading a self-help book and making a couple of changes? Are the Old Testament narratives a ‘How to be Holy for dummies’ book? No, it is more complicated than that, yet wisdom, guidance and joy can be found throughout.

     To understand the Old Testament narratives it is important that you avoid some common errors and mistakes people make when interpreting the narratives.

1.  The narratives are stories of sinful men. The narratives are about God and his interaction with fallen mankind. Since they are sinners, not everything they do is right or good, just because David did something does not make it right.

2.  They are stories from God about God and not direct teachings on specific doctrine.

3.  They are snapshots of the events written from varying viewpoints and not the complete story on the life of our Bible heroes.

4.  We have to understand the culture and the times to correctly interpret the message implied by the narratives. You must look at who is the narrator, who is the audience and what is happening to get a complete understanding. You cannot ignore the historical context.

5.  Do not try to fit the story to you preconceived notions and doctrines. While we can read between the lines somewhat avoid trying to make it say what you want it to.

6.  Don’t always try to pick out some deep moral meaning. There might not be something there if you have to dig too deep or leap to far.

7.  Take the whole narrative into account you can’t parse the word or you destroy the story. Make sure to keep everything in context.

8.  Don’: t over personalize it. God may very well be speaking to you through the narrative but try not to think it is all about you.

9.  Don’: t try to copy the people in the narratives; the stories are not to be used a roadmap for you life. There are countless valuable lessons to learn from the narratives, but they are not self-help books.

10.  Lastly, if you are confused by a section or not sure of the meaning. Seek help in a commentary, try another translation or ask for some godly advice. Never assume you can muddle through if you don’t understand.

My worldview

What is a worldview?

A worldview, put simply is the prism that we see our world through. Your whole life has shaped your interpretation of the events in your daily life. This has created your worldview and you see life’s events through your unique prism. Every person has their own worldview and they do change over time as our experiences shape it.

What I believe as a person that holds a “Christian worldview”:

The Question of Origin – Where did we all come from? For me that is an easy question, God created everything from nothing by the power of his word and put us here. We only have to read the opening statement of the Old Testament for our answer. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God…” We can also look to the New Testament as John 1:1-3 plainly tell us that God created all.

The Question of Identity – What is Man? Are we just a highly evolved mammal? No, God created the animals and he created man in his own image to rule over the animals (Genesis 1:26-27). We are special; we are not just another type of animal. We are created in the Creator’s image. We have a soul, a spirit and an intellect that the animals do not posses. We are created different. In Genesis 2:19-20 we see how God placed man in dominion over the animals.

The Question of Meaning/Purpose – What is the point of all this? Why did God create it all? God created all for his own glory. He created all things by Himself and for Himself (Corinthians 1:16-17). He did it all for his own purpose (Ephesians 3:10-11).

The Question of Morality – What is right and good? How can we know Right from Wrong? God has given us the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. In the Word we have the Law (throughout the first 5 books of the Bible). It is an absolute framework of right and wrong. And the only acceptable work to enter heaven. Unfortunately we cannot meet it and require a redeemer. We are all guilty under the Law (Romans 2:12-15).

The Question of Destiny – What happens when we die? I believe we will enter into paradise. Luke 23:39-43 tells us the story of the thief on the cross next to Jesus. Jesus said to him this day you will be in paradise with me. To be absent from the body is to be present with God. Whereas Revelation 19: 20-21 describe the lake of fire awaiting all those who do not believe.

How does my worldview affect the way I treat others and His creation?

            I try to treat others, as I would have them treat me, (Matthew 7:12). This is commonly known as the Golden Rule, but it is more then that. I must treat others with the respect I would give to Jesus. I often fail at this but I know that is my standard. We are to treat our wives as our own flesh (Ephesians 5:25-30). I must also we care for his creation. I am commanded to be an environmentalist, a conservator and a manager of God’s creation. That is what Adam was supposed to do in the garden (Genesis 2:15), and we are commanded to be good stewards of all that is His as well.

The law of the land…

Our Constitution has been called the law of the land, indeed it is the basis of all our laws, or at least it is supposed to be.

Have you ever read the Constitution? Do you have a copy of the Constitution? Can you name any of the powers granted to the federal government in the Constitution?

Can you tell me which of the following concepts or words are NOT contained in the U. S. Constitution?

1.       The term,”Separation of Church and State”.

2.       The unalienable rights of, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.

3.       “Government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

4.       The President of the United States shall be elected by the people of the United States.

5.       The Supreme Court of the United States shall consist of nine justices appointed by the President of the United States.

Could you spot the right answer? Which one is not from the Constitution?

The correct answer is: All of the above. Don’t feel bad if you got it wrong. Our public school system has been woefully inadequate in teaching us for a long time and we the people have been mislead and lied to for so long we take these truths to be self evident.

1.       Is from a letter from Thomas Jefferson to a church many years after the Constitution was adopted.

2.       Is from the Declaration of Independence, (written by Thomas Jefferson).

3.       Is from the Gettysburg Address, (Abraham Lincoln).

4.       The President is elected by the Electoral college as detailed in Article II, Section 1.

5.       The Supreme Court is created from Article III, but it does not state the number of Justices.

You might be surprised.

On May 8^th North Carolinians will get a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment. The Amendment reads: 

Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state. 

For those who know me, or if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, this may come as a surprise to you. I am against the amendment. I think it is a travesty of justice.

Why am I against it? I think that the government should get out of the marriage business all together. Why do we have state sanctioned marriage? Marriage was instituted by God and should remain in that realm. There should not be any legal benefits or special rules because you pay the state a fee for a piece of paper that really means nothing more than until divorce do us part.

I have been married for 24 years to a wonderful woman. She is everything to me and I can’t imagine life without her. Our marriage is a joining together by God and we will be married until Death do us part. Divorce is not acceptable for any but very specific circumstances and the tragedy of modern American marriage is appalling.

Time to go

Yesterday, Former Presidential candidate and current US Senator John McCain said the US should consider Bombing Syrian Military targets. Why? Because the war crimes against their own people. Following that logic Great Britton should have come in on the Confederacies Side and Bombed Washington DC and taken out Union forces to stop Sherman’s march to the sea. We should be bombing China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, most of Central Africa, Venezuela, Columbia, and many other areas of the world.

Jay Carney the Press Secretary for the President was asked when the last Al Qaida member was killed in Afghanistan. He replied April 2011. Since then 466 US soldiers have died and scores more injured.

I served in two of our most recent wars, I was in the military for 21 years, I supported both wars at the time. Now I think it is time to go. We have spent Billions and Billions supporting the propped up unpopular and ineffectual government of Afghanistan for far too long.

Recently terrorists in Afghanistan desecrated the Koran by writing in it to send messages to other terrorists in our custody. When we discovered the desecrated Korans, we could not give them back, we could not allow the prisoners to have them and they were considered desicrat3es by Islamic law. So we burned them. Now our soldiers are being killed despite the incessant groveling by our government. Tell Afghanistan. Sorry we tried. You insist on being 7^th century savages. We are out of here. Pull out every last troop, take every last thing we can that is our and destroy the rest so no one can use it. Let them kill themselves I no longer care.

Wisdom from Our Founders that is a Beacon of Truth Today

The Declaration of Independence:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Read the whole document here:
 http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

The Mom Shoppe by Lois' Lodge

Do you live in Charlotte? Do you need inexpensive yet awesome baby items?

Come to the Mom Shoppe Located at 2400 Park Rd, suite B, Charlotte, NC 28203.

Open Saturdays 10 am until 5 pm.

The Mom Shoppe is run by Lois' Lodge an Christian Non-Profit organization providing practical love, care and support to women experiencing the challengers of unplanned pregnancies. Lois' Lodge is an evangelical family-style home in Charlotte, North Carolina that provides life skills, encouragement and the love of Jesus Christ to women experiencing the challenges of unplanned pregnancy. Lois' Lodge was incorporated in 1997 and became a non-profit in 1999. All donations are tax deductible.

Visit them on the web at: http://www.loislodge.org/

Think you are more informed then the average bear?

Think you are more informed then the average bear? Do you know the concepts and principles our government was founded on? Take the Civics test at the following link and post your score in the comments section.  I answered 32 out of 33 - 96.97%

Elected officials seem to do a worse than the average and the national average is 49% Elected officials 44%.

http://www.isi.org/quiz.aspx

Hope Cash and Jobs

A little while ago I saw a quote on facebook that I thought was funny.

“A decade ago we had Bob Hope, Johnny Cash and Steve Jobs. Now we have no hope, no cash and no jobs.”

I thought that was a little pessimistic, but a very good play on words.

Now I see it as a commentary on the 2012 election.

President Obama promised us Hope and change. I saw a lot of change I didn’t like and lost hope.

Now it is looking like the choice in 2012 will be either Obama – Romney or Obama- Gingrich.

I have no hope that anything will really change with any outcome from these contests.

I am now pinning my hope on Congress. I see that as our only hope since the only viable candidates regardless of party are big government progressives.

What is our motivation?

     This January begins our 18th year of our Home School journey. We have three High School graduates and three to go. Of the three that High School graduates two are in college working towards their degrees and on has graduated from college.

     If you would have asked me last month I would have said yes. Now I am not so sure.

I am reading “When I rise up” by R. C. Sproul Jr. and it has really got me thinking. So first I need to start at the beginning.

     We started in Japan where we had a bad experience in the DOD school. At first we were only going to Home School while we were in Japan. We used a complete prepared curriculum. I would have to say it was a failure by all standards. Our daughter studied to pass the test at the end of each unit and then do a data dump. She didn’t enjoy it and we didn’t see any point n continuing. Our goals were wrong and our heart was wrong.

     We moved to Florida and found the state if the public schools even worse than we had in Japan so we continued until we were to leave there. Surely the Schools at our next duty station would be better. We were still doing it for the wrong reason.

     Then we moved to San Diego and discovered we really didn’t want to send them there either.

We had received a lot of grief from friends and family over the years and it was hard, but now we were dong t not because of we didn’t want to send them to public school but because we thought it was the right thing to do. We were judging our success by what the world told us success was and continued because that is what we were supposed to do.

     Why do care what other people think about our Home School? What is my goal? Why do we do it? Those are hard questions and I am really struggling with the implications of those questions. My younger three are totally different in their needs and learning styles. We are struggling to fit round pegs into square holes and banging our heads against walls.

     Now what? Do we want to raise kids that can ace the SAT or raise Godly young women. What is more important? Learning to speak Latin or learning to be a woman of character. Should they go to college or should they prepare to be Godly wives and mothers.

     I am struggling and I am trying to figure this out. I want to do what s right not by the world’s standards but by God's.

Mitt Romney…Democrat for President

     It has been years since I have called myself a Republican.

     I stopped sometime during the Democratic presidency of George W. Bush. After Bush the country was given the choice between an inexperienced senator from Illinois or a man who couldn’t even recognize himself in a mirror because he change who he was so often he couldn’t even keep it straight.

     This year the North Carolina Primary election will be held on May 8^th. That is six months after the Iowa Caucus. After 37 other states have held their Primaries. What choice will I have? NONE. The Nominee will already be picked and it appears that Mitt Romney has been anointed to be the sacrificial lamb led to the slaughter on the altar of moderation.

     In 2012 we will have the choice between a Democrat and a Socialist. Both are going to the same place, just at a different pace.

     When will republicans wake up? We they put forward “moderates” they LOSE! (Gerald Ford, Bob, Dole, John McCain.) The only reason “W” won was because he successfully fooled enough people into thinking he was a conservative and his opponents were worse than him.

     The only conservatives running for president are Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. If I had a vote it would be for Ron Paul, but since I don’t it doesn’t matter. Come November I will have the choice to vote for more and more government control or more government control. If that is my choice I think I will cast a write in vote, for myself.