No apologies!

Recently Terry Jones, a pastor of a small independent church in Florida bought a book, he took that book and he caught it on fire.

He is unapologetic. He stands by his right to dispose of his property in any way he chooses.

I agree. Would I have done it? Maybe, but probably not. I am a Christian. I believe that the Bible is the word of God. I own several Bibles. I have multiple interpretations, Bibles in Russian, Greek, Chinese, I even have one in Scots. I have owned a Koran. I have no idea where it is now. I can’t remember what I did with it.

After the burning of the Koran by Mr. Jones, Muslims around the world have expressed their outrage. A mob of Muslims attacked U.N. Staffers and killed several of them. Roger Cohen writes in the New York Times:

So Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who organized a Koran burning on March 20, wanted “to stir the pot.” Mission accomplished. Perhaps he’d care to explain himself to the family of Joakim Dungel, a 33-year-old Swede slaughtered at the U.N. mission in Mazar-i-Sharif by Afghans whipped into frenzy through Jones’s folly.

On reflection, no, there’s nothing Jones can explain to Dungel’s family, or the other U.N. staffers murdered. Jones is not in the explanation business. He’s a zealot. How else to describe a Christian who interprets his faith not as grounded in love and compassion but as a mission to incite hatred toward Islam?

There’s no discussion with a bigot like this: You can’t be argued out of something you haven’t been argued into in the first place. From the New York Times Opinion Pages By ROGER COHEN

Published: April 4, 2011

He is WRONG on so many levels but most importantly, the only people reasonable for the killing of the U.N. staffers are the people that killed them. Mr. Jones is in no way responsible of killing anyone. Mr. Jones can burn the Koran, burn the Bible, burn a cook book or even burn down his own house. I don’t care.

If I go to Barnes & Noble’s today and buy a Koran, I am buying a book.  It is just a book. Paper and ink and glue made by man, temporary and fleeting. The Bible contains the word of God. The words are God’s words. The paper is not the word of God. The ink is not the Word of God. The book itself is not the word of God.  The Word is the word of God.

I am tired of being told I can’t say something that might offend someone. That applies to everyone except white Christian males; it is open season on them. Read the constitution people. Free speech, Freedom OF, (not from), religion, Freedom to assemble peaceably, and many more. God Bless America.

Parsing the Word...

One thing I can’t tolerate is parsing the Word of God. When I am reading an article or a Bible Study, and the author quotes a verse or to like this: “We…worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus…(Phil 3:3)”

Some of the time, the author may be just trying to emphasize his point or to leave out words that he feels are repetitive or irrelevant.

I despise this. Every word is relevant and the context makes the verse. Compare the verses below:

“We…worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus…(Phil 3:3)”

“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, (Phil 3:3) NJKV

What is the author trying to say? Do the two quotes say the same thing? Was the intent to emphasize his point or something more sinister.

If I wanted to twist the Word of God it is easy to do, for example if I wanted to make the point that people should not perform street evagalizm I could quoute Matthew 6:5 as this:

“…you shall not…pray standing…on the corners of the streets…” Matt 6:5

Is that what it says? Are we fobiding from praying on the streets? Of course not. I could quote from Genesis 19 and try to make the point that incest is blessed by God. I could twist nay scripture to try to make it say what I wanted if I took it out of context.

Please do not take any scripture quotes from a book written by man. Always o to the Word and look at the verse in context.

I have a dream

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I have a dream speech “This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. “

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote and delivered many speeches, including one of the most famous speeches in history. A speech that gives its readers chills. A speech so filled with love and strong words that it gives hope and strength to its listeners. The speech I am talking about is aptly named “I have a dream”, which was delivered by Dr. King on August 28^th, 1968, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. I was most impacted by the part of his speech talking about faith to bring us together. I believe that what Dr. King is stating in this passage is that with faith, we will be able as a nation to overcome racial discrimination. He isn’t just addressing the bigotry between the blacks and whites but between people of all colors, and religions. Believing strongly in a nation that could and would stand under one brotherhood, Dr. King spoke bravely on this subject. “With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” This is still in progress, America has not yet reached this goal. In small ways, we see Luther’s dream in action. We now have inter-racial schools, and businesses. I hope that one day we will indeed be free from segregation, racial discrimination and prejudice. That we will be able to see past color, and religion. That we will be able to stand together with our fellow Americans and fight for what is right. With the faith that we can overcome these obstacles, we are empowered to act upon the knowledge that maybe not in our generation but the unborn generations yet to come we will be free.

Written by my daughter for a class assignment.

I’ll show you mine – Show me yours.

Here is my Official, Long Form Birth Certificate, issued by the state of Michigan. I have redacted some information to protect my identity. If I was to run for political office I would release my military records as well. I have nothing to hide. I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of The United States while in the military and at my current job.

This Birth Certificate shows my full name, date of birth, place of birth, attending physician, record number, my mother and fathers full name and address, race, sex, and my fathers employer. it is signed and has a raised seal.

God Bless America.

HENRY LAWSON WYATT

HENRY LAWSON WYATT,

THE FIRST CONFEDERATE SOLDIER KILLED IN BATTLE.

It is somewhat remarkable that North Carolina, which was the last State to leave the Union, should have furnished the first soldier to the grim monster who during the next four long and weary years was to claim such a host of victims.

            This soldier was Henry Lawson Wyatt. He was born in Richmond, Virginia, February 12, 1842. In October, 1856 he accompanied his father to North Carolina, and ultimately settled in Tarboro, Edgecombe county.

It became evident in April, 1861, that North Carolina must secede or fight the southern States. Private parties, anticipating the action of the State, were organizing and drilling troops for service. One of the first of these companies was the " Edgecombe Guards " of Edgecombe county. It was organized April 18, 1861, and on that day Henry Lawson Wyatt enlisted in it as a private soldier.

The battle of Big Bethel was fought Monday, the tenth of June, 1861, at Bethel Church, situated on the Yorktown road, nine miles from Hampton, Virginia.  (The battle sits is located only a mile or so from my house on Compton Court just off of Big Bethel Road).

A strong column of Federals consisting of Massachusetts troops crossed over the creek and appeared on the left flank of the Confederate line. The Union troops made a rush hoping to get within the Confederate lines. They were met by a cool and deliberate fire, but were concealed in part by a house. Volunteers were called for to burn this house. Corporal George Williams, privates Henry L. Wyatt, Thomas Fallan and John H. Thorpe, of company A, advanced to perform the duty. Their duty was to charge across an open field, two hundred yards wide, in face of the enemy's lines and commanded by his sharpshooters. They behaved with great gallantry, but had advanced only about thirty yards when Wyatt fell pierced through the brain by a musket ball. The other three were wounded and remained on the earth until a shell from a howitzer fired the house and helped to route the enemy.

excripted from an article by: Stephen B. Weeks.

National magazine: a monthly journal of American history, Volume 17

Pages 55-59

"My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"

Matthew 27:45-46 - "Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

Prior to 1599 (the Geneva Bible) the Bible was not broken down into the common chapter and verse we have today. If you wanted to reference a scripture you had to quote a portion of the verse. The only book in the Bible that was broken into sections was Psalms.

What was Jesus saying as he died a painful agonizing death upon the cross. Was he begging God to rescue him? Was he crying in vain realizing he had made a horrible mistake trusting in God? Was he expressing the grief of knowing that he was dying for an impotent God that he trusted in to save him? NO!

While the death of the cross was more agonizing then anything we can every imagine. The suffering of Jesus was so great that I can not even comprehend it. The sin of the world was on his shoulders and He took on the wrath of God for us. But God did not forsake him any more then he forsakes us when we sin.

Jesus is quoting Psalm 22, which begins, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?".  Jesus quotes Psalm 22 to draw the attention of the Aramaic speaking Jews to Psalm 22. This Psalm is a Messianic prophecy and the events of the crucifixion are fulfilling the Prophecy. Jesus is aying to the crowd. I am the Messiah. His last words on the cross "It is finished" echo the last words of Psalm 22 "He has done this."

Compare: Psalm 22:7-8 to Matthew 27:43
                Psalm 22:12-15 to Matthew 27:34, 48, John 19:29, Luke 22:36
                Psalm 22:16-18 to Matthew 27:35-37
                Psalm 22:25-31 to All of the Gospel
Jesus was making a final declaraton of his being the Messiah before his death.

and to the republic...

You hear it constantly from the media, you hear it from your fiends, you hear it from the teachers in public schools, you even hear it from our elected officials. “America is a democracy.”

No, it is not. That is a falsehood that is so prevalent that nobody ever questions it.

We are a Republic. So what you might say. You’re just parsing words. I don’t think so. There is a fundamental difference between a democracy and a republic. Our founding fathers did not want the mob rule of democracy. In a democracy the people vote on the governing of the country and 50% is all that is required to pass, the mob rules.  In a republic the people elect representatives to govern for them. This is a significant difference because now a few govern in the place of the many so that the mob rule effect is diminished. The founding fathers did not stop there, they added a second layer to check the representatives, the Senate. The Senate was envisioned to represent the States interests not the interests of the people of the State. The people did not elect the Senators, they were elected by the State legislatures. Each state had equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House. 

Now we come to a long forgotten out of date document that the government disregarded a long time ago; the Constitution. This ancient document was intended to set the parameters of the Federal Government. It listed specific obligations and responsibilities of the Federal government. Each branch was broken down and their respective scope of powers were laid out. Next we have the Bill of Rights, or the first ten amendments to the Constitution. These were adopted immediately and the Constitution would not have passed with out them.

Amendment 10: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

What does that mean? It is plain language, not some 2000+ page monstrosity that even a lawyer would have trouble understanding. It simply says that the Federal Government can do only what the Constitution says it can. All other powers are reserved to the States and the people. What article of the Constitution spells out the scope of the Department of Education? Where do I find the article giving authority to the government to regulate firearms? Where is the ‘Separation of Church and State’ defined? Where can I find the authority to grant a privately owned entity the power to print and regulate money? Maybe I am dense, maybe I am obtuse, maybe I am just an uneducated right wing extremist. Please enlighten me.

Our founding fathers took great pains to ensure that the founding documents could be easily read and understood by any one with an education equivalent to a High School diploma. Compare the wording of the Declaration, or the Constitution to just this one little snippet from the healthcare bill:

(1) IN GENERAL- The Administration shall be headed by a Health Choices Commissioner (in this division referred to as the `Commissioner') who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(2) COMPENSATION; ETC- The provisions of paragraphs (2), (5), and (7) of subsection (a) (relating to compensation, terms, general powers, rulemaking, and delegation) of section 702 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 902) shall apply to the Commissioner and the Administration in the same manner as such provisions apply to the Commissioner of Social Security and the Social Security Administration.

Huh? What? This is two small paragraphs of a 2000+ page law. The whole constitution is less the 40 pages with all the amendments and the Declaration of Independence!

God Bless America, and with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.