Katrina, Accident or not

In the wake of the devastation by Katrina, maybe we should
stop and reflect on a few things. Should we ask "why us"? Maybe,
but no one knows the answer to that question. However, the Bible
clearly states that God punishes nations whom he is displeased with,
because of their wickedness, with horrible weather, diseases, pestilence
droughts, and wars.

Now to the secular moralist, and the rank unbeliever alike, this is
nonsense. For some of them, God either openly does not exist (the
Atheist), or covertly He does not exist, (the Moralist), or He exist
but has no hand in the affairs of men (the Deist).Solomon the third
King of Israel reigned from 965-925 B.C. At the beginning of his reign
he prayed thus, "When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy
because they have sinned against You; When there is famine in the land,
pestilence, or blight or mildew, locust or grasshoppers, (what we call natural
disasters) when their enemies besiege them because of sin, hear from Heaven
and forgive our sins and restore us. Solomon knowing that God dealt with
individuals as well as nations, was not only confessing national sins but
also seeking pardon for those sins. We, indeed are guilty of gross national
sins; to name a few Pornography, Abortion, Unpunished Murders , (unrequited
blood) Adultery, Fornication, Homosexuality. Now we think those things
are just normal ways of life because we have moved so far from an understanding of
Scripture ,But God has not changed and everything He looks upon as sin worthy
of death is still sin worthy of death.

Jonathan Edwards prior to his death understood the direction the nation was
taking; away from thinking through life with a God centered view, to thinking that
logic, reason and morality were the truest ways of looking at things. He never lived
to see it entirely develop, but it indeed has become the norm. Because we are finite
creatures, we see through a glass of cloudy liquid but God on the other hand, is infinite,
and sees everything in a complete and crystal clear picture and knows what yesterday's
actions, will reap, today. So our logic says to us that the people suffering from the effects
of Katrina are suffering unjustly. We ask what did they do to deserve this? We feel
that this is unfair. But to believe this, is to believe that God is unjust and unfair. The
Scriptures in describing the character of God says of Him; He is Holy, He is just, He
is Merciful and Kind, God is Love, Truth, Longsuffering, Patient and Good. Not one
of His attributes shows Him to be unjust and unfair. Feelings of injustice and being
unfairly dealt with are born out of our human emotions because we see, with
limited vision. Our understanding of God should conclude that He not only looks at
our individual sins and deals with us about them personally, but He also looks at the
national sin and sometimes many must suffer the national, punishment for national
sins. Where God decides to visit that punishment is something He only determines. So
the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are no more or less sinful than the
people of other states, but God in His infinite wisdom chose this place to unleash His
wrath against our national ungodliness, perhaps to punish or perhaps to warn of coming
judgment or perhaps to do both. One thing we do know about God is that He is not whimsical,
every action has a definite purpose.

In an effort to understand the proper perspective of all this including the war
on terror I Googled, the number of violent crimes in the United Stated
randomly picking the year 2002, what I found from my search was astonishing;
In 2002 - 11,877,000 violent crimes were committed, 1 426,000 people died as a
result of murder; 16,000 manslaughters; 95,000 forcible rapes; 421,000 robberies;
894,000 aggravated assaults (information gathered from the Census Bureau web site)
Yet the American people have practically abandoned the war on terror, because in
two years roughly 1900 Americans have died in battle. That is not to downgrade
the importance of those deaths. Rather it should put a different perspective on how
we view things.

Systematically the liberals have criticized the Bush administration for everything
from the problems in Baghdad to causing the Hurricane. However, our nation is
no safer than Baghdad. Violent crimes, looting, hundreds dying daily, lack of
water and electricity, and the liberals who blame the President for causing
all these things and his failure to plan for them. And then there is, New Orleans;
looting, crimes, death, violent criminals taking anything not nailed down. Lack of
fresh water, fires, and no electricity and of course the Presidents failure to stop the
hurricane, the Presidents failure to arrive on the scene earlier, (and do what?) The
Presidents blah blah blah!


I believe the Bible and what it says about man. My opinions are not based on anyone's
political agenda, no, not even my own. Rather they stand upon the Scriptural descriptions
of mans depraved condition. For example, we always look at the American people as
basically a good and compassionate group of people, always going to the rescue of those
in dire straits, and on the surface that is correct. But the question of depravity also plays into
what we do in our day-to-day lives, not just in what we do in extraordinary times. Example:
I have a friend who has a handicap sticker legally obtained, however the conditions
she suffers from is not consistent, and for the most part she seems ok to me. One
day we were out and about in my car and we made a stop, she offered to let me use
her handicap sticker, when I refused she was bewildered and thought it strange,
until I explained to her that I am not handicapped, and I would rather not take
a space someone else might really need just to save myself a few steps.

We know all the adjectives we use in describing our character, compassionate,
good, kind etc. we worship the work of our own hands. But what do the Scriptures say
about man, "The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,
who can know it. (Jeremiah 17:9) Or what about this description, "And God saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart are only evil continually". (Genesis 6:5) Jonathan Edwards believed
that God created the first humans with two principals working in them; First, the
lower principle, that which we call natural, such as, self-love, and natural appetites and
passions. In addition God implanted principles that were spiritual, holy and divine. So long as
the higher principle of love to God reigned supreme, Adam and Eve were perfectly
happy, Yet God also had given them the ability to choose between right and wrong,
the ability to choose to live life as He prescribed, or to disobey Him. When they
disobeyed, spurning Gods love, God withdrew the higher principle from them
leaving only the lower nature to rule. (excerpted in part from Jonathan Edwards,
A Life-George M. Marsden - Yale University Press)

Finally the media, whether electronic, or print, should hide their faces in shame.
Immediately they set out pointing fingers at the administration. But what about the
Mayor of Louisiana, and the Governor of Louisiana, If fingers are to be pointed should
they not first be pointed at the local and state levels before the federal level. It amazes me
that we scream for less government and demand that the federal government not
usurp states rights, except when there is a disaster, then the federal government
becomes the scapegoat for everything the Governor and Mayor failed to do.
Lt. General Honore, the now lead person on the rescue efforts said it succinctly y
esterday on Fox, when the first responders are themselves victims and the infrastructure
is destroyed it is in effect impossible to execute a proper response to the disaster. He
suggested that we tamp down the rhetoric of finger pointing and get about the business
of rescuing and cleaning up the aftermath of this disaster. Pray for a 21st century
"Great Awakening"

What is Music

Jonathan Edwards said this about music."The best, most beautiful,
and most perfect way that we have of expressing a sweet concord
of mind to each other, is by music. When I would form in my mind
an idea of a society in the highest degree happy, I think of them as
expressing their love, their joy, and the inward concord and harmony
and spiritual beauty of their souls by sweetly singing to each other"

Click on the song titles under links to hear me sing praise to our
Benevolent Great Father, Our Savior, His Son, Jesus Christ, and
our Teacher and Sanctifier, The Holy Spirit.

Defining our Roots

America in the Beginning

FAITH UNDER FIRE Air Force cracks down on Christian
'coercion'Academy tells cadets not to use Bible quotes, sharing
faith may be intolerant. That was a headline from Worldnetdaily,
November 21, 2004. This is a thumbnail sketch of what the
article is about; “Officials at the Colorado Springs military college
have instituted a new training program, Respecting the Spiritual
Values of People, to teach the cadets, 90% of whom are from
Protestant or Catholic backgrounds, tolerance toward non-
Christians “

How did we stray so far away from our roots? Constantly
we hear the left say; the right wing evangelicals are taking our
country to the far right we have to get back to our roots. History
tells me what our roots really are. America was settled by the
Puritans and the Pilgrims. The Puritans were people who believed
that religious authority was grounded in the Bible. Puritans wanted
to remain within the Church of England but wanted to purify it,
hence the name Puritans. The Pilgrims on the other hand broke
with the Church of England because they believed it was corrupt
beyond repair. The Church of England was a state church. All
people were forced to worship in the state church. The Pilgrims
felt the only way to experience religious freedom was to completely
separate from the church. Escaping religious persecution in 1608,
they fled to Holland. After 12 very difficult years they returned to
England and 102 of them set sail for America.

According to an article identified as ww.nd.edu/ ~rbarger/
www7/puritans.html), by 1640 there were 17,800 Puritans living
in the New England area where they first settled, by 1700 there
were 106,000 Puritans living in America. Government was exercised
by the clergy, for they were generally the educated people in the
community.

Men like Jonathan Edwards, Solomon Stoddard, Abraham Pierson
(who founded Yale University in 1701; he was the first Rector of Yale).
Godly Men like George Washington and John Adams. In other words,
our founding fathers for the most part were men who had genuine
and deeply held beliefs in God.

To those on the left I ask …which roots do you speak of? If you look
back to recent history, 40 years ago there were only Christian
Churches (on every corner) and Jewish Synagogues. Shall we go
back to that period in our history?

Personal Social Security Accounts

I wonder how many people have taken a close look at
how much they have invested in Social Security. The
problem is, once invested there is often no return.
Take me for an example; I have invested roughly
$84,000.00 in Social Security since I started working...
Let’s assume I live until just before retirement, and
then die just months before I am due to start receiving
Social Security benefits. The money I have invested
up to that point goes back into the general fund.
That bugs me; that is $84,000.00 that I cannot leave
to my daughter and my grandchildren.

I wonder how many people understand that the $84,000.00
really is not in a bank in DC. The government has already
spent that investment to help, along with two other people,
to retire someone I do not know nor ever will. I would much
rather have put that money in an account that bears my name
which I could leave to my family.

So I say to anyone opposed to personal accounts;
ARE YOU CRAZY?

I had the privilege of going to the 2005 Presidential Inauguration. Here I am in DC beneath the Hart Senate building. That's Andy Jackson backing me up. Too cold for a California Girl. If you've never taken the Congressional Tour, and you get a chance to take the tour do so. There is so much history in those halls and rooms. What a great gift from God America is!

A Prayer for Tom Delay & John Bolton

In 2002 I watched the beginning of a very subtle plan hatched
by the Democrats to destroy the President’s popularity. Little
by little they chipped away at his approval ratings through
the use of rumor and innuendo.

We live in a very fickle society; we are easily carried away by
any wind, as debris on the ocean is carried away by the tide.
So, the popularity of the President began to decline, slowly,
bit by bit. Although they lost the election, and lost power
both in the house and in the senate, they continue with their
smear campaign.

Because the Democrats have no plans or solutions, it appears
the only plan they can come up with is to defame as many on the
right as possible in hopes that the American people will throw
those on the right out of office. The Democrats are banking
on the fickleness of the public to regain the power they
so desperately desire.

At the moment the obvious targets are Tom Delay and John Bolton.
I hear many people say, both on the left and on the right, "our thoughts
and prayers are with you". I say lets not just mouth those words to
impress, but let us truly pray for our leaders as God has commanded.
Following is a prayer for Tom Delay and John Bolton; adapted from
Psalm 35 when David prayed for vindication:

Plead their cause, O Lord, with those who strive with
(Tom Delay and John Bolton); Fight against those who
fight against them. Take hold of shield and buckler and stand
up for their help. Let those on the left be put to shame and
brought to dishonor who seek to destroy the reputations
of these two men. Let them be turned back and brought to
confusion who plot their hurt. Let them be like chaff before
the wind, let their way be dark and slippery and let the Angel
of the Lord chase them. For without cause they have hidden
their nets for Tom and for John in a pit, which they have dug
without cause for their lives. Let destruction come upon them
unexpectedly, and let the net they have hidden catch them:
Into the very destruction, let those plotting against these
men fall. Psalm 35:1-8

Color Pencil rendering done while I was recovering
from Quadruple By-Pass surgery Thanksgiving week
1992. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is
within bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord O my
soul and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons
all my iniquities; Who Heals all my diseases; Who
has redeemed my soul from destruction and crowns
me with loving kindness and tender mercies; He
satisfies my mouth with good things so that my youth
is renewed like the eagles”. Bless the Lord O my soul.
Psalm 103:1-5.

Thoughts on Abortion and Social Security

It only takes simple mathematics to figure the loss
of social security contributions caused by the
death of 44 million babies aborted in
this country since 1973 as sited in the North
Carolina Reported Abortion Statistics. According
to the National Center for Policy Analysis, “People
are having fewer children. For each generation
to be the same size as the one before (the
replacement rate), women must have 2.1
children. In 1940, the fertility rate was 2.23.
Today, the rate is 2.07 and by 2050 it is
expected to trend downward to 1.95.
The result has been dramatic. In 1940,
there were 42 workers per retiree. Today
the ratio is 3-to-1; by 2050 it will be 2-to-1.
The burden on each individual worker will
increase substantially and we will no longer
be able to keep our promises to retirees at
current payroll tax levels”.
.
Let’s do the math; 44 million abortions averages
out to approximately 1,375,000 people per year
who were never added as Social Security
contributors. 1,375,000 children whose lives
have been ended each year for 32 years and the
oldest of those casualty’s of the holocaust called
abortion would now be 32 years old, well into the
Social Security retirement contribution system.

If those children had been permitted to live,
those born in 1972 would have started
contributing to SS in 1991. Between 1991 and
2005, the nation lost approximately 19,250,000
people who would have become eligible to
contribute to the Social Security program.

It seems to me the SS program is already
broken. If you factor in the 44 million babies
who perished between 1973 and 2005, along
with non-aborted infant mortality rates, birth
control, longevity of retirees, (who now live on
average 10 years longer than people lived
100 years ago), congressional misappropriation
of Social Security funds for pet projects, and
probably other data not known to this blogger,
this problem seems seriously out of control,
should we continue to put this off for another
year, or should we deal with the problem now?

Ironically, it seems none of the Senators or
Congressmen talk about this data or factor it
into the reasons for the insolvency of Social
Security. But it is time to be a great nation
and act in integrity. Put the political prancing
aside and be about solving the Social Security
problems facing us.

Let us love our children and cherish them as the
future of this great land.

Children are a heritage from the Lord, The
fruit of the womb is a reward. Psalm 127:3

My first painting done with acrylics
God is so amazing He gave me a
love for art.

An open letter to the U.S. Senate

We live in troubled times in our nation, we experience troubles
brought on by ineffective legislators who parade in front of TV
cameras, when they should be about the nations business.
Legislators who are more concerned about their next
appearance on the next talk show than they are about the
nation’s welfare and the peoples business.

The President has chosen people to serve on the courts who
will, hopefully, not legislate from the bench, but will dispense
justice. A few preening peacocks have decided they are more
powerful than the Executive branch of the government so they
refuse to allow an up or down vote on the President's choices
as called for in the constitution. Peacocks who strut about
spouting lies and spreading innuendo, who think nothing of
smearing decent, God fearing, persons of integrity, chosen
to serve the people, by the twice elected leader of this nation.
This they do because of their hatred and bitterness toward
the President and an inordinate desire for power.

How did we stray so far from our roots? Our nation
was founded by godly Puritan men and women who believed
there was an eternal plan for this land. A providential plan
for greatness for this land that God brought them to. The
founders had lofty and noble plans for this country, they
were men who's faith in God directed their decisions in
designing the legacy we now enjoy. The legacy of being a part
of the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history
of the world. Where are the lofty ideals and noble plans today?
They are not to be found, rather what we see and hear are
gutter snipes, yapping and snapping across the aisles of congress.
We see the left carping and complaining and accusing by
innuendo, in the meantime they have no plans or solutions
to the problems we face. Then there are the Republicans,
the elected majority cowering and trembling as though they
were a minority. Is there no one among you who will
stand and deliver for the people who put you in office.

The left defends their right to filibuster as though it were a
noble thing. A filibuster by definition is: An obstructionist
tactic used to delay legislative action. Senators
enough is enough. Either you must be about the peoples
business or we will replace as many of you as possible in
2006. I have determined not to make another political
contribution until I see some solutions to some of the
problems facing us. A solution to end judicial tyranny, a
solution to the problem of sexual predators in our
neighborhoods who kill our children, a solution
to dwindling social security benefits, a solution to the
murder of the unborn for the sake of convenience,
murder justified by re-defining it as "choice", and a
solution to bring an end to the limitless appeals process,
disguised as compassion, for those convicted of violent
crimes . In short Senators, be about the peoples business
or face expulsion in 2006.

I urge my fellow Americans to withhold political contributions
from every fence sitter, and every obstructionist who fails to
do what both God and the people require of them:

“You shall appoint judges and officers in your gates
(courts), which the Lord your God gives you, and
they shall judge the people with just judgment.
You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show
partiality nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds
the eyes of the wise and twist the words of the
righteous. You shall follow what is altogether
just that you may live and inherit the land
which the Lord your God has given you.
Deuteronomy 16:18-20