Tuesday, July 28, 2009

“Never again will I doom the earth because of man…” By: God

“Never again will I doom the earth because of man…” By: God

**************************

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

*****************************

The title above was taken from the first book of the Bible, Genesis, the 8th Chapter the 21st verse.


So here we are, man, taking credit for destroying the earth, which God, Himself has told us he will not allow.I, along with a host of other “deniers”, have been screaming from the rooftops, Man-Made Global Warming doesn’t exist! It is the absolute height of arrogance for human beings to believe they have to power to destroy something God has made and placed his personal guarantee on. But, we’re doing it.


I want to refer you to an article titled: “What God Thinks About Anthropogenic Global Warming”. Kevin Roeten wrote it. You’ll find it HERE.


In his article, Mr. Roeten makes a statement and asks the following question: “Believing one has the power to affect an entire planet’s ecosystem is presumptuous at best and rashly arrogant at worst. God is either laughing at the sheer audacity of such an endeavor, or crying at the outcome of such egotistical actions. Are some of us telling God that man is in charge now?”


As a fellow who counts himself among the religious, I must tell you that much of the claims of the Man-Made Global Warming crowd, and the Climate Change crowd, stun me. I feel as if I should be dodging lighten bolts, hurled from on high, at the arrogant souls making such ludicrous claims. And yet they continue to do it… and worse, they have sold it to many of our mainline Christian churches. That is another reason I have washed my hands of Organized Religion.
Man-Made Climate Change not so… er… Man-Made?


Fred Singer an atmospheric and space physicist says it is the sun. Check it out HERE.


The “experts” tell us the science is “settled” on global warming. They tell us mankind pumping so much CO-2 into the atmosphere has, and is, causing it. Then they use the guilt trip they have imposed on fellow human beings to shame us into completely altering the way we live. It is the oldest con game in the book. And the peoples of the planet are falling for it.


I have heard the question asked, and even I have asked it, myself: How did Hitler manage to entice an entire nation to follow him into insanity? Actually, it is quite easy. Propaganda. As an old advertising man, I can tell you, it IS possible to sell anything if you package it correctly and if you create a desire in the consumer for it. If you lead the consumer, your target audience, to believe that all his neighbors are using and endorsing whatever it is you are selling, you have a successful sales campaign. Works every time. It worked for Hitler and it is working for the man-made global warming crowd. Except… the global warming hoaxers are much better than Hitler. He only had to con a single nation. They have taken on the world and they have had brilliant success.


So how have they done it? With emotion! Plain and simple. Human emotion. Hoaxsters play on human emotions, especially guilt. They do it because it works! Human emotion will run roughshod over human rationality every time. Think about it. The world is being destroyed and you are the cause of it! Guilt.


Let’s face it. Most of us do not understand the so-called science behind the claims of Man-made Global Warming. Most of us are not scientists. The fact that we don’t understand it brings a degree of shame. (Remember emotion) We drive our nice cars and trucks and live in our nice homes and wear our nice clothes and along comes someone who has a scientific formula, which we do not understand, to tell us that all these things we are enjoying are causing death and destruction to our fellowman… to our home… the earth. We are ashamed and we feel guilty about what, we are told, are our excesses. The guilt we feel drives us to bow to the demands of those pointing their fingers at us and crying “shame, shame”. Next thing you know, in order to feel good about ourselves, we are following the demands of the hoaxsters and have even joined the finger pointing group calling “shame, shame” at the holdouts who HAVE bothered to take a second look, a RATIONAL look, at the claims made by the hoaxsters and found them far short on facts.This entire Man-made Global Warming Hoax can be unveiled and destroyed if the public would only stop and think rationally for a few minutes.


It is up to each of us to look closely at the claims the hoaxsters are making and with a little fundamental research we can debunk it.


If you remember any of your grammar school and high school science you already know that the earth goes through heating and cooling periods. It is the way of nature. It is as natural as sunrise and sunset. And, most important, it happens to be true.


Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you do not understand something about the Man Made Global Warming message. Then check the answers for accuracy. You have the greatest library in history at your fingertips… the Internet.


As a religious man, I believe that God created this planet as a home for us. Man’s most heinous sin has always been his aspiration to be God, or to be LIKE God. This Man-Made Global Warming scheme is simply more evidence that man has not yet learned that he is not BIG enough TO BE God. Not yet. Not ever.


J. D. Longstreet

*****************




Monday, July 20, 2009

Church Makes Itself Irrelevant.

Church Makes Itself Irrelevant.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*********************************************

Episcopal Church officials voted recently to allow bishops the latitude to bless same-sex unions and it is a vote that may further divide the worldwide Anglican community. Read the full article entitled: "Episcopalians authorize bishops to bless same-sex unions" HERE.

In my opinion, it is past time for the Anglican community to toss ECUSA out and be done with it.

I am a non-practicing ELCA Lutheran. I became non-practicing when my church adopted left-wing politics in place of the scriptures. It was at that point that it became, in my opinion, apostate, and I left the church because that is what Christians are supposed to do when they find themselves in such surroundings.

The Episcopal Church, USA seems bent on becoming a "cult", of some sort, rather than a church or denomination, within the mainline churches of the world. The Anglican Communion, in my opinion, ought to toss them and get on with their Christian work without the distractions left-wing organizations seem always to bring with them into any organization.

There is an article at the Charlotte Observer site you will find interesting. It is titled: "A Church Divided" and you will find it HERE.

As we watch the mainline churches in America fall like dominoes to the evil forces assailing them, one must wonder whatever gave them the idea they could weigh anchor and sail away from safe harbor within the sola scriptura. As one of the (seemingly) very few OLD Lutherans left still kicking, I confess to believing, still, in sola scriptura, meaning: "only from the scriptures," or "the scripture alone," or, finally, "the scriptures (The Bible) as the sole source of authority." What I mean, simply, is that I base my faith on scripture alone, not on politics, not on any secular creed, not on passing fancies, whims, fashions, and, or, fads, but scripture - alone. Back in the day, when protestantism did the same thing, denominations did not split over things like homosexual bishops, blessing homosexual marriages, etc. It was enough that the scriptures condemned homosexuality. The argument, if ever there was one, was over before it began.

With the all out attack of left-wing politics on the church, and the Left's "everybody goes to heaven" theology (making the church, itself, irrelevant), denominations not deeply anchored in sola scriptorua folded like cheap suits.

Sola scriptorium, on the other hand, is a philosophy upon which the original protestant churches were built. The Great Reformer, Martin Luther, gets the credit for inventing it. It dictates, in layman's terms, that the interpretation of the word of God ultimately rests within a person and his or her personal relationship with God. That is, no one else can tell you how to believe in God. See, now, I LIKE that. In fact, I have lived my life that way. I do not now, nor have I ever, believed that it is forbidden for one to interpret the scriptures for oneself. Although, some churches in Christendom do believe it is forbidden for the believer to read and interpret the scriptures for himself or herself.

As I said above, I must admit to being an adherent to Sola Scriptura, as well. That is - Bible Sufficiency - or the scriptures alone. In other words, I hold a belief in the scriptures as the sole source of authority... not the preacher, not the pastor, not the priest, not the Bishop, not the Pope - the scriptures alone. As a result, I have very few gray areas in matters of faith, to deal with.

In my last few years as an active church member, I was in a constant state of turmoil. I watched my church become something I knew to be wrong. When I spoke up and warned fellow members the path the church had taken was not biblical, was not true to the faith, and most importantly, was not true to the scriptures, I was looked upon with disdain. As I looked about me I saw, to my horror, that fellow members did not seem to be troubled by the path the church was taking. Mainly, they wanted to be left alone and not disturbed by unpleasant things such as apostasy.

I stopped taking communion - and finally announced to my bible study class that I was leaving the church because I could not remain a part of an organization that I believed was not true to the scriptures. I was admonished to remain in the church and work from the inside to force the church to return to its scriptural mission. After a few weeks of actually considering that - I decided that would not work because the hierarchy of the church was far too powerful and they had set the course for the church and nothing I could ever do would make the least bit of difference. And so, I left the church.

My only regret is that I could not do a thing to save my beloved church from self-destruction. My greatest disappointment is with my (former) fellow members of that denomination who could not be bothered to act quickly and decisively to save a great old Christian denomination which had done much good in this world, in God's name, but had now gone over to the opposition.

Today, as I watch so many of the mainline churches going over to the enemy, I have to ask myself if this is as bad as it appears? The scriptures tell us clearly that only a remnant of God's people will survive "the great shakeout." It seems to me that our great old denominations, like our nation, the USA, have become fat and lazy and are not competent to lead anymore. The churches, tired of setting the standards for society have, instead, adopted society's standards as their own. It is much less work, you see. In doing so they have forsaken their only true mission on this earth and are of no further use in the fulfillment of The Great Commission. Shouldn't we, then, ask ourselves if these churches, these Christian denominations, have become a hindrance to the work of the true church on this earth? I warn you, an honest answer here WILL hurt!

J. D. Longstreet

******************



Sunday, July 5, 2009

" ... But There Shall Be No Peace."

…“Men shall cry: Peace! Peace! But there will be no peace.”
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
********************************

It bothers me when I hear politicians, and former politicians, call for a Lasting Peace in the Middle East… especially a Southern politician, a Baptist, at that, and… a former President of the US.

I am referring, among others, to former “horrible” President Jimmy Carter of Plains, Georgia.

Now, let me see if I can explain this a bit:

It is always difficult to “unmix” politics and religion; at least it is for me. I really like to keep them separate, as much as I can… with the knowledge that each will, most certainly, intrude on the other… and there is no way to stop that. Not in a free society, anyway.

I was raised Southern Baptist. I left the Baptist church when I was in my mid-twenties and became a Lutheran. I felt the Lutheran church offered me something I could not find in my former denomination. Today that offering has been revoked and I find myself a “non-practicing” Lutheran.

Experience in the Baptist church taught me many things. One is that the policy Mr. Carter is suggesting, a “Lasting Peace in the Middle East”, is certainly not what the Baptist church teaches... at least they didn’t when I was a Baptist. In fact, it taught just the opposite… that there would be no peace, whatsoever, in the Middle East, until the return of Christ and the great battle of Armageddon.

So, you can imagine how my jaw dropped when I read Carter’s article in the Washington Post. You can find it
HERE.

What’s going on here? Has “Jimma” finally gone round that bend he has been approaching, rather rapidly, of late? Or, has the Baptist church changed its stance on Peace in the Middle East? I simply don’t know. But, knowing the Baptists, as I do, (there are a number of my family, including my brother, who are Baptist ministers) I cannot believe the church has changed its teachings to reflect modern, secular, politics. (I expect I’ll hear from a Baptist, or two, about this! Fine people, those Baptists!! How’s that for “sucking-up”?)

The last I heard, (and I have some friends who travel to Georgia, fairly often, and attend church at Carter’s church… and even attend the Sunday School class he teaches, or did teach.) the Baptist Church had not changed it’s teaching on “End Times”, Armageddon, or the Rapture. So, I have to wonder how other Baptists, members of one of the most conservative denominations on the earth, feel about this prominent Baptist misrepresenting their belief.

Carter’s association with the Baptists and his obvious break with them concerning Israel, and the Middle East, is a puzzlement. But then, politicians, who wear their religion on their sleeves, have always raised my eyebrows.

There is a distinct difference between wearing one’s religion on one’s sleeve, and practicing one’s religion, as that worthy adversary, Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman, does. I do not question his faith. He lives it.

Seems to me America would be a much better place if our politicians would LIVE their religion rather than publicly touting it as so many do.

Am I guilty of judging others by going against the biblical precept, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”? Of course I am! Christ himself said: “Ye shall know a tree by the fruit it bears.” I’m just examining the fruit! I’m kind of a “fruit inspector”, if you will.

I suggest we ALL begin examining the fruit we’re being offered much more closely than we have in the past. All the evidence we need to convince those among us who STILL need convincing has been splattered all over the media lately.

J. D. Longstreet

*********************




Thursday, July 2, 2009

I Miss America! ... J. D. Longstreet

I Miss America!
J. D. Longstreet


****************

I have always thought Providence had a plan for this place we call America. No, I did not get that from the “Good Book,” the Bible, as you might think I would claim. Actually, I think it came from my fundamentalist evangelical upbringing. In any event, it is a feeling to which I grasp firmly to this day.

America has done a lot of good I this world. We have managed, along the way, to do some harm. At least those who do not look as kindly upon America as I do seem to feel that way and seem to have no problem letting those feelings be known loudly and clearly.

There has been a feeling within much of the Christian community in America that Providence has shielded America from much harm by extending His protection about her. I cannot argue for or against that stance. I just don’t know.

Recently, however, that is to say - within the past few decades - as America has taken to patterning her society after the European style liberal and socialist societies, the Christian community has taken another look and now a good deal of that community is proclaiming that God has now withdrawn that divine protection and America is now open to whatever evil comes her way. I cannot say, one way or the other. While it is true that God and I have a very personal and close relationship, I am afraid He doesn’t take me into His confidence on such matters. I am eternally grateful for that! Unlike some among us scribes, I take no pleasure in publicly proclaiming I have any sort of inside track with The Almighty in how He deals with the nations.

However, I can tell you this - there is a written record of his past dealings with nations that have won his favor and then lost it. If, indeed, America DID have divine protection extended to her, and has, as some believe, lost it, then judging from the record I referred to above, America will have some trying times ahead of her.

We know from the scriptures that God “chastens those whom he loves.” Its sort of a “tough love”… divine style.

Let me give you an example from that written record we know today as the Bible. When the Chosen People decided they wanted a king like all the nations around them, the prophet told them they did not need a king because God was their sovereign. Not satisfied they demanded a king. Finally, God relented and gave them a king. Problem was, He gave them King Saul. And in doing so, God told them they would rue the day they ever asked for a king! And, boy, DID they! Saul became, quickly, a warrior king and many of God’s chosen people were slaughtered on the field of battle. It seems they were always at war with some other people, or nation, over some problem or other, until the people did come to realize they had made a major mistake in demanding an earthly king. Unfortunately, it was too late. The kingly line had been set and the people then had a royal family and a line of kings that would, march far into the future until captivity and dispersion.

Now - if there is a parallel between those ancient people of the bible and the modern US it might be the demand of the American voters for Obama as our “king” or President. Many of us knew, at least two years before the election, that John McCain would never be President of the US. So, when the GOP decided he was to be their candidate the election was sealed in favor of his opponent, and it turned out to be Obama. And today, about six months into Obama’s reign, the American voter is beginning to rue the day they demanded Obama as their king or President. Calls for his early resignation are heard from all corners of the land today.

After considering all of this, I must admit it does appear as more than just chance that all the bad that has happened to America in the past half a year leads right back to that election and the people’s demand for “change”. And make no mistake about it, the people of the US DEMANDED Obama. We got him - and look what else we got to boot.

And now we are fast approaching the day we celebrate our independence from Great Britain, the Fourth of July. I am sitting here at the keyboard trying to find something to say that is meaningful on this anniversary of our freedom. I find it is difficult, this year, to do that with all the bad we find ourselves nearly swamped in.

Each time I pull up to the keyboard, and type those few words, my eyes want to tear up and I get that lump in the throat that I used to associate with singing the national anthem and watching the flag march by, proudly held aloft by a veteran of the US Armed Forces. It is a common trait among those of us who have worn our nation’s uniform.

Ah, but this year, this year, the would-be tears are not only for those who have paid the price of our freedom with their body and blood - and sometimes even their sanity, it is for what we, as Americans, have lost in just the first five short months of the new presidential administration’s reign.

Near the top of my list of things we Americans have lost is PRIDE. Pride at being an American. Pride that was earned - that was paid for by the men and women who went before us into the jaws of hell and back to free a people in a country the name of which some of them could not even pronounce. It was pride earned because Americans were a people who would lend a hand to their fellow man, far away, who yearned to be free from a brutal dictator.

America used to be thought of as a “can-do” nation. It didn’t make a lot of difference what needed doing, America could, and would, do it. It never occurred to us we could fail. I mean, after all, we were AMERICANS! We DON’T FAIL!

It was confidence. Self-confidence, if you will. We were a nation of rugged individualists who did not rely on government for a damned thing. As a matter of fact, the less government we had - the better.

The nation, itself, was founded largely by the outcasts of other nations. Occasionally, other nations would send their criminals here as punishment. I know that is difficult to believe but it happened! They were people who had nothing to lose, with their backs against the wall they had one way to go and that was straight ahead - and the devil take the hind most! Those were the people who formed the bedrock foundation of the people the world would come to know simply as “AMERICANS.” Unique in the history of the planet - there had never been a nation made of people like those Americans. They were different. They knew it and they loved it.

They were a people who wanted their freedom - and so they took it – and they took it from a world superpower, no less. They created an experimental system of government called a representative republic and made it work! Some 80 years later they fell out, over state’s rights, and split into two separate countries and went to war against each other. The War for Southern Independence was unlike anything the world had seen before and since. They went at killing each other with workman like precision. On more than one occasion soldiers would cheer and applaud the other side’s bravery in the midst of the battle! More Americans died in that war than in all the wars America has been involved in added together. Some say the way that war ended has much to do with where America finds herself today. I cannot disagree with that. As a result of that war’s ending we stand today as one nation containing two countries made up of 50 separate and sovereign states. At some point it is bound to unravel.

America’s downfall came quickly once it began in the early 1990’s.

I have concluded, rightly or wrongly, (But I BELIEVE I am RIGHT) that ignorance is the cause of America’s downfall. We Americans are, as a whole, stupid. We are the least educated, dumbest, society on earth. How else can you account for the people we elected to lead the nation? I mean… just LOOK at that bunch! Now… look at what they have done to the country in less than six months! There is no easy way to say this – the election of Obama was a huge triumph for ignorance in America. If you STILL do not believe me, stick around for oh, a year, maybe eighteen months, or so, and watch what is going to happen and THEN tell me I am wrong.

Come on folks! Look at the fare on your TV. Most of it is insulting to anyone with a slightly above average IQ. You must understand the comprehension level of the average adult American today is around that of a third grader, or below. The people who produce the garbage on TV have to dumb it down so the average American can understand it! How else are they going to be able to sell it to the networks as vehicles for their commercials?

Our public school system (the government schools, as many now refer to them) is absolutely pathetic. It is a colossal failure. The curriculum has been dumbed down so that we are graduating kids who can barely function in a world that will surely pass them by. We know what is wrong with our schools and we know how to fix them - but we won’t. You must understand that for the government (we now have in America) to continue to control the reins of power they need MORE dumb Americans - not less. Our cookie-cutter schools are turning them out by the millions every year.

So, if you say America has passed her zenith, I certainly would not argue with you. Today’s America is but a caricature of the real America. If you choose to believe that God has withdrawn his shield of protection from America, then I certainly cannot argue with that, either. But I CAN tell you this - I really, really, miss America!

J. D. Longstreet
**********************


****************