a baker's dozen action plan for christian conservatives

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the 16th month of this blog. I had one very simple reason for starting this blog---I wanted to make a difference.

America, over the course of the last 50 years or so, has taken a pretty drastic wrong turn. We the people of the United States have forgotten our Christian heritage, turned our backs on God, and have begun buying into the lies of a false religion. I have called this false religion a lot of different names--liberalism, leftism, secular progressivism, secular humanism, cultural Marxism, and just plain dishonest--but it all amounts to the same thing. There is a force working within our world and within our nation that is seeking to divorce us from the commands of God, the teachings of Jesus, and the foundational principles of this great republic. This force is attempting to get us to worship the false gods of selfishness, entitlement, instant gratification, envy, pride, and status. Modern liberalism is the false religion that deifies those "gods." A great number of Americans have willingly joined this pseudo-religion, and a greater number of Americans have stayed on the sidelines and watched it happen without so much as lifting a finger. The results have been nothing short of tragic.

We have broken homes, drug abuse, violent crime, teen pregnancy, school shootings, child abuse, pornography, and a culture that gets coarser and more dangerous every day. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers today. Nearly 50 million unborn babies have been aborted since 1973. That number is almost 10 times higher than the number of people killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and it’s higher than the combined number of deaths in all of the wars America has ever fought in. One-third of the children who are actually allowed to be born in this country are born out of wedlock. Two-thirds of all black children in this country are born out of wedlock. According to statistics provided by the Heritage Foundation, children who are born out of wedlock are seven times more likely to live in poverty and six to 30 times more likely to be seriously abused. A great number of them end up living in America's prison system. Some children just disappear. You can trace all of the above back to the failed policies and liberal lies of the left.

In my opinion, those of us who call ourselves Christian conservatives aren't doing enough to change the culture. We are ignoring Jesus' command from Matthew 5:13-16;

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven."

My Life Application Study Bible by Zondervan says that "we hide our light by being quiet when we should speak, going along with the crowd, denying the light, letting sin dim our light, not explaining our light to others, or ignoring the needs of others." That's pretty plain.

After all that I have written since June of 2006, and after all that I have read and heard over the course of my lifetime, I am convinced that there are 13 specific steps that we Christian conservatives can take to change America. If we follow those 13 steps, I believe that America would experience a Great Awakening, a transformational rebirth, that would radically change the direction of our nation for the better.

Starting tomorrow, I will write about each of these 13 steps. All 13 steps are based on the blueprint of our Fathers---America's foundational documents as written by our Founding Fathers, and the Holy Bible given to us by our Heavenly Father. In other words, this won't be my wisdom on display (as if I had any!). I hope you will join me.

lessons from the larry craig case

The Larry Craig case is all over the news, and it just sickens me. As disgusting as the whole sordid affair is, however, there are lessons we can learn from it.

1. Larry Craig is not being forced to resign because he's gay. The liberal media has trumpeted that particular lie for 2 days now, and it's still as much of a lie as it was then. Larry Craig is being forced to resign by the GOP because he was arrested for trolling for sex in an airport men's room. That's a crime, by the way, that he pleaded guilty to. Many of Craig's fellow senators have known for years that he's gay. They didn't care, so long as he didn't commit any crimes. He did so he's out.

2. Isn't it interesting to compare the GOP response to lawbreakers in their midst to the response of Democrats to criminals in their ranks. If Craig was a Democrat he would just now be receiving a new, more prestigious committee assignment and his fellow Dems would be holding fundraisers for his reelection bid. Tom DeLay had it right when he said today that Republicans fire their criminals, but Democrats reelect theirs.

3. The Craig mess highlights the critical importance of electing men and women of high moral character to public office. Craig was continually reelected despite the rumors about his extra-curricular activities dating back to the 80's. The voters kept sending him back to Washington, and they should be ashamed.

deuteronomy 2

1 We turned back and started out toward the desert. We went along the road that leads to the Red Sea. That's how the Lord had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.

2 Then the Lord spoke to me. He said, 3 "You have made your way around this hill country long enough. So now turn north.

4 "Here are the orders I want you to give the people. Tell them, 'You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives. They are from the family line of Esau. They live in Seir. They will be afraid of you. But be very careful. 5 Do not make them angry. If you do, they will go to war against you. I will not give you any of their land. You will not have even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. 6 Pay them with silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.' "

7 The Lord your God has blessed you in everything your hands have done. He watched over you when you traveled through that huge desert. For these 40 years the Lord your God has been with you. So you have had everything you need.

8 We went on past our relatives. They are from the family line of Esau. They live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah Valley road. It comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber. We traveled along the desert road of Moab.

9 Then the Lord said to me, "Do not attack the Moabites. Do not even make them angry. If you do, they will go to war against you. I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Moab to the people in the family line of Lot. I have given it to them as their own."

10 The Emites used to live there. They were strong people. There were large numbers of them. They were as tall as the Anakites. 11 Like the Anakites, they too were thought of as Rephaites. But the Moabites called them Emites.

12 The Horites used to live in Seir. But the people of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites to make room for themselves. Then they settled in their territory. They did just as Israel has done in the land the Lord gave them as their own.

13 The Lord said, "Now get up. Go across the Zered Valley." So we went across it.

14 Between the time we left Kadesh Barnea and the time we went across the Zered Valley, 38 years passed. By then, all of the fighting men who had been in our camp from the beginning had died. The Lord had warned them with an oath that it would happen. 15 He used his power against them until he had gotten rid of all of them. Not one was left in the camp.

16 Finally, the last of the fighting men among the people died.

17 Then the Lord spoke to me. He said, 18 "Today you must pass near the border of Moab. Moab is also called Ar.

19 "When you come to the Ammonites, do not attack them. Do not make them angry. If you do, they will go to war against you. I will not give you any of their land as your own. I have given it to the people in the family line of Lot. I have given it to them as their own."

20 That land was also thought of as a land of the Rephaites. They used to live there. But the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. 21 The Rephaites were strong people. There were large numbers of them. They were as tall as the Anakites. The Lord destroyed the Rephaites to make room for the Ammonites. So the Ammonites drove them out. Then they settled in the territory of the Rephaites.

22 The Lord had done the same thing for the people of Esau. They lived in Seir. He destroyed the Horites to make room for them. They drove the Horites out. So the people of Esau have lived in Seir in the territory of the Horites to this very day.

23 The Avvites lived in villages as far away as Gaza. But people came from Crete. They destroyed the Avvites. Then they settled in the territory of the Avvites.

24 The Lord said, "Start out and go across the valley of the Arnon River. I have handed Sihon over to you. He is the Amorite king of Heshbon. I have also given you his country. Begin to take it as your own. Go to war against him.

25 "This very day I will bring fear and terror on all of the nations because of you. They will hear about you. They will tremble with fear. Pain and suffering will take hold of them because of you."

26 I sent messengers from the Desert of Kedemoth. I told them to go to Sihon, the king of Heshbon. They offered him peace. They said, 27 "Let us pass through your country. We'll stay on the main road. We won't turn off it to one side or the other. 28 We'll pay you the right amount of silver for food to eat and water to drink. Just let us walk through your country. 29 The people of Esau, who live in Seir, allowed us to do that. The people of Moab, who live in Ar, also allowed us to do it. So let us walk through until we go across the Jordan River. Then we'll be able to go into the land the Lord our God is giving us."

30 But Sihon, the king of Heshbon, refused to let us walk through. The Lord your God had made his heart and spirit stubborn. The Lord wanted to hand him over to you. And that's exactly what he has done.

31 The Lord said to me, "I have begun to hand Sihon and his country over to you. So begin the battle to take his land as your own."

32 Sihon and his whole army came out to fight against us at Jahaz. 33 But the Lord our God handed him over to us. We struck him down together with his sons and his whole army. 34 At that time we took all of his towns. We completely destroyed them. We killed all of the men, women and children. We didn't leave any of them alive. 35 But we took for ourselves the livestock and everything else from the towns we had captured.

36 Not a single town was too strong for us. That includes all of the towns from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon River valley all the way to Gilead. It also includes the town in the valley. The Lord our God gave us all of them.

37 And you obeyed the Lord's command. You didn't go near any part of the land of the Ammonites. That includes the land along the Jabbok River. It also includes the land around the towns that are in the hills.

1 corinthians 14

1 Follow the way of love. You should also want the gifts the Holy Spirit gives. Most of all, you should want the gift of prophecy.

2 Anyone who speaks in a language he had not known before doesn't speak to people. He speaks only to God. In fact, no one understands that person. What he says with his spirit remains a mystery. 3 But anyone who prophesies speaks to people. He says things to make them stronger, to give them hope and to comfort them. 4 Those who speak in other languages build themselves up. But those who prophesy build up the church.

5 I would like all of you to speak in other languages. But I would rather have you prophesy. Those who prophesy are more helpful than those who speak in other languages. But that is not the case if those who speak in other languages explain what they have said. Then the whole church can be built up.

6 Brothers and sisters, suppose I were to come to you and speak in other languages. What good would I be to you? None! I would need to come with new truth or knowledge, or a prophecy or a teaching.

7 Here are some examples. Certain objects make sounds. Take a flute or a harp. No one will know what the tune is unless different notes are played. 8 Also, if the trumpet call isn't clear, who will get ready for battle?

9 It's the same with you. You must speak words that people understand. If you don't, no one will know what you are saying. You will just be speaking into the air.

10 It is true that there are all kinds of languages in the world. And they all have meaning. 11 But if I don't understand what someone is saying, I am a stranger to that person. And that person is a stranger to me.

12 It's the same with you. You want to have gifts of the Spirit. So try to do your best in using gifts that build up the church.

13 For that reason, those who speak in languages they had not known before should pray that they can explain what they say. 14 If I pray in another language, my spirit prays. But my mind does not pray. 15 So what should I do? I will pray with my spirit. But I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit. But I will also sing with my mind.

16 Suppose you are praising God with your spirit. And suppose there are visitors among you who don't understand what's going on. How can they say "Amen" when you give thanks? They don't know what you are saying. 17 You might be giving thanks well enough. But the others are not being built up.

18 I thank God that I speak in other languages more than all of you do. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five words that people can understand than 10,000 words in another language. Then I would be teaching others.

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. Be like babies as far as evil is concerned. But be grown up in your thinking. 21 In the Law it is written,
"Through people who speak unfamiliar languages
and through the lips of strangers
I will speak to these people.
But even then they will not listen to me." —(Isaiah 28:11,12)
That is what the Lord says.

22 So speaking in other languages is a sign for those who don't believe. It is not a sign for those who do believe. But prophecy is for believers. It is not for those who don't believe.

23 Suppose the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in other languages. And suppose visitors or unbelievers come in. Won't they say you are out of your minds? 24 But suppose unbelievers or visitors come in while everyone is prophesying. Then they will be shown by all who speak that they are sinners. They will be judged by all. 25 The secrets of their hearts will be brought out into the open. They will fall down and worship God. They will exclaim, "God is really here among you!"

26 Brothers and sisters, what should we say then? When you come together, every one of you brings something. You bring a hymn or a teaching or a word from God. You bring a message in another language or explain what was said. All of those things must be done to make the church strong.

27 No more than two or three people should speak in another language. And they should speak one at a time. Then someone must explain what was said. 28 If there is no one to explain, the speakers should keep quiet in the church. They can speak to themselves and to God.

29 Only two or three prophets are supposed to speak. Others should decide if what is being said is true. 30 What if a message from God comes to someone else who is sitting there? Then the one who is speaking should stop.

31 Those who prophesy can all take turns. In that way, everyone can be taught and be given hope. 32 Those who prophesy should control their speaking. 33 God is not a God of disorder. He is a God of peace. As in all the churches of God's people, 34 women should remain silent in the meetings. They are not allowed to speak. They must follow the lead of those who are in authority, as the Law says. 35 If they have a question about something, they should ask their own husbands at home. It is shameful for women to speak in church meetings.

36 Did the word of God begin with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? 37 Suppose some think they are prophets or have gifts of the Holy Spirit. They should agree that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. 38 Anyone who does not recognize that will not be recognized.

39 Brothers and sisters, you should want to prophesy. And don't stop people from speaking in languages they had not known before. 40 But everything should be done in a proper and orderly way.

the liberal practice of twisting language

I just saw a great example of the relentless assault on language that is being carried out by the modern left. Let me explain what I mean.

The modern leftist knows, deep within their little Marxist heart, that most Americans will never in a million years go along with their cockamamie agenda. Incidentally, that's why liberals get so rabid over judicial nominations. Unelected judges, wholly unaccountable to the people, provide the avenue for passage of the Marxist agenda. That's an agenda that would never pass legislatively!

Anyway, liberals know that, if they simply state their opinions in an honest, straightforward manner, most Americans would oppose them. What liberals do, then, is to change the meanings of words, so that they mean something else entirely. In this way, liberals are able to confuse people and to slip their agenda into being under cover of subterfuge. I'll give you two examples.

news.yahoo.com/s/nm/
20070829/us_nm/usa_schools_segregation_dc

This is a Reuters news story that says that America's schools are becoming more segregated. Segregation, of course, refers to public policy which mandates separateness between the races (or any other classification of people) and we all know that segregation was outlawed decades ago. According to the story, however, segregation is back due to recent Supreme Court rulings.

This of course is a lie. Segregation has not made a comeback and the Supreme Court didn't authorize segregation. What the Supreme Court said is that a school board may not deny a student admission into their neighborhood school just because of race. You see, some school boards think it's OK to bus students across town to schools far away just to achieve some nebulous goal of "diversity." That's ridiculous, that's unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court put a stop to it.

What is happening is that white parents with the means to do so are pulling their children out of failing public schools and are choosing to home school them or to enroll them in private schools. There is nothing in the world wrong with that. What is wrong, however, is for liberals to oppose voucher programs that would provide the same opportunity for poorer minority children.

What liberals are hoping for is that, if they scream "segregation" loud enough, a majority of Americans will actually believe them and allow the horrendous social engineering programs of the left to go unchallenged.

Don't believe the lies. You can always tell when a liberal is lying. It's when their lips are moving. It is at that point that you need to tune out and to begin speaking truth back to the lie.

1 corinthians 13

1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2 If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.

3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11 When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12 We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

1 corinthians 12

1-3 What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often mis-understood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say "Jesus be damned!" Nor would anyone be inclined to say "Jesus is Master!" without the insight of the Holy Spirit.

4-11 God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:

wise counsel
clear understanding
simple trust
healing the sick
miraculous acts
proclamation
distinguishing between spirits
tongues
interpretation of tongues.

All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

12-13 You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

14-18 I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

19-24 But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

25-26 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

27-31 You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body": apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues. But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts.
But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.

deuteronomy 1

1-2 These are the sermons Moses preached to all Israel when they were east of the Jordan River in the Arabah Wilderness, opposite Suph, in the vicinity of Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. It takes eleven days to travel from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea following the Mount Seir route.

3-4 It was on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year when Moses addressed the People of Israel, telling them everything God had commanded him concerning them. This came after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who ruled from Ashtaroth in Edrei. It was east of the Jordan in the land of Moab that Moses set out to explain this Revelation.

5 He said:

6-8 Back at Horeb, God, our God, spoke to us: "You've stayed long enough at this mountain. On your way now. Get moving. Head for the Amorite hills, wherever people are living in the Arabah, the mountains, the foothills, the Negev, the seashore—the Canaanite country and the Lebanon all the way to the big river, the Euphrates. Look, I've given you this land. Now go in and take it. It's the land God promised to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their children after them."

9-13 At the time I told you, "I can't do this, can't carry you all by myself. God, your God, has multiplied your numbers. Why, look at you—you rival the stars in the sky! And may God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, keep it up and multiply you another thousand times, bless you just as he promised. But how can I carry, all by myself, your troubles and burdens and quarrels? So select some wise, understanding, and seasoned men from your tribes, and I will commission them as your leaders."

14 You answered me, "Good! A good solution."

15 So I went ahead and took the top men of your tribes, wise and seasoned, and made them your leaders—leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, officials adequate for each of your tribes.

16-17 At the same time I gave orders to your judges: "Listen carefully to complaints and accusations between your fellow Israelites. Judge fairly between each person and his fellow or foreigner. Don't play favorites; treat the little and the big alike; listen carefully to each. Don't be impressed by big names. This is God's judgment you're dealing with. Hard cases you can bring to me; I'll deal with them."

18 I issued orders to you at that time regarding everything you would have to deal with.

19-21 Then we set out from Horeb and headed for the Amorite hill country, going through that huge and frightening wilderness that you've had more than an eyeful of by now—all under the command of God, our God—and finally arrived at Kadesh Barnea. There I told you, "You've made it to the Amorite hill country that God, our God, is giving us. Look, God, your God, has placed this land as a gift before you. Go ahead and take it now. God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, promised it to you. Don't be afraid. Don't lose heart."

22 But then you all came to me and said, "Let's send some men on ahead to scout out the land for us and bring back a report on the best route to take and the kinds of towns we can expect to find."

23-25 That seemed like a good idea to me, so I picked twelve men, one from each tribe. They set out, climbing through the hills. They came to the Eshcol Valley and looked it over. They took samples of the produce of the land and brought them back to us, saying, "It's a good land that God, our God, is giving us!"

26-28 But then you weren't willing to go up. You rebelled against God, your God's plain word. You complained in your tents: "God hates us. He hauled us out of Egypt in order to dump us among the Amorites—a death sentence for sure! How can we go up? We're trapped in a dead end. Our brothers took all the wind out of our sails, telling us, 'The people are bigger and stronger than we are; their cities are huge, their defenses massive—we even saw Anakite giants there!'"

29-33 I tried to relieve your fears: "Don't be terrified of them. God, your God, is leading the way; he's fighting for you. You saw with your own eyes what he did for you in Egypt; you saw what he did in the wilderness, how God, your God, carried you as a father carries his child, carried you the whole way until you arrived here. But now that you're here, you won't trust God, your God—this same God who goes ahead of you in your travels to scout out a place to pitch camp, a fire by night and a cloud by day to show you the way to go."

34-36 When God heard what you said, he exploded in anger. He swore, "Not a single person of this evil generation is going to get so much as a look at the good land that I promised to give to your parents. Not one—except for Caleb son of Jephunneh. He'll see it. I'll give him and his descendants the land he walked on because he was all for following God, heart and soul."

37-40 But I also got it. Because of you God's anger spilled over onto me. He said, "You aren't getting in either. Your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will go in. Build up his courage. He's the one who will claim the inheritance for Israel. And your babies of whom you said, 'They'll be grabbed for plunder,' and all these little kids who right now don't even know right from wrong—they'll get in. I'll give it to them. Yes, they'll be the new owners. But not you. Turn around and head back into the wilderness following the route to the Red Sea."

41 You spoke up, "We've sinned against God. We'll go up and fight, following all the orders that God, our God, has commanded." You took your weapons and dressed for battle—you thought it would be so easy going into those hills!

42 But God told me, "Tell them, 'Don't do it; don't go up to fight—I'm not with you in this. Your enemies will waste you.'"

43-46 I told you but you wouldn't listen. You rebelled at the plain word of God. You threw out your chests and strutted into the hills. And those Amorites, who had lived in those hills all their lives, swarmed all over you like a hive of bees, chasing you from Seir all the way to Hormah, a stinging defeat. You came back and wept in the presence of God, but he didn't pay a bit of attention to you; God didn't give you the time of day. You stayed there in Kadesh a long time, about as long as you had stayed there earlier.

being intimidated by radical islamic thugs

www.caucusforamerica.com/opinion.art.php?pID=387

Brilliant! When are we as a nation going to stand up and defend our American heritage? If we don't defend it, we will lose it, and it will happen within one generation.

a global warming primer

www.ncpa.org/globalwarming/GlobalWarmingPrimer.pdf

For those of you who are acually interested in the truth about global warming, this link will take you to a fantastic presentation of the facts. All of the facts are documented so that, if you wish, you can even check the accuracy of the information yourself.

since when did health care become a right?

When the Founding Fathers created this great republic, they followed a simple blueprint. All men were born with certain rights--gifts from God--that no other man could take away from us. Those unalienable rights were the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to pursue happiness. That final right was understood by our Founders to mean the right to work hard and to be self reliant and to accumulate wealth as a result of our hard work and self reliance. Government was seen as a creation of man and as being empowered by man to safeguard those God-given rights.


When the Constitution was written, it was structured in such a way that the specific powers of the national government were strictly defined. When the Bill of Rights was added, it included a safeguard that was supposed to protect us against a national government that wanted to take more power than the Constitution allowed. The 10th Amendment says:


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


In other words, our national government can only take those powers that are delegated to it, and the rest are reserved for the States and we the people. That is perhaps the most important part of the Constitution.


The Bill of Rights contains other rights that the national government can't take away from us. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to bear arms--all of those rights, and others, are listed in the Bill of Rights so that the national government can't take those rights away from us.


All of the rights contained in those first ten amendments have something very important in common. The government doesn't have to take anything away from anyone else in order to protect that specific right for you. Nobody else has to give up anything for you to have your right to bear arms, for example. That goes to the very core of the meaning of the word "rights."


Now, let's look at the so-called "right" to universal health care provided by the government. There are so many problems with that concept that it is difficult to know where to start.


First of all, there is nothing in the Constitution that says health care is a right. Of course, the Constitution does say that the Bill of Rights is not intended to be interpreted to mean that we have no rights other than what is specifically listed in those amendments, but that doesn't mean that we can, or should, go about adding new "rights every day to the old ones.


If we wish to define something as a "right," the first question we are obligated to answer is, "Does anyone else have to give up one of their unalienable rights in order for me to have this new right?" With universal health care, of course, the answer is a loud "yes."


The government, you see, doesn't have any money. They never have. The government doesn't produce anything. The government doesn't create anything. The only source of revenue that the government has is "we the people." The government has been empowered to confiscate a portion of our hard-earned treasure and to spend it as they see fit.


Don't you see that, if I have the "right" to universal health care, that means exactly the same thing as saying that I have the right to reach into your pocket and to take money that I did not earn and to use your money to pay for my right to health care? What gives me the right to take from you something that you earned in order to give me something that I did not earn for myself?


Do you see the difference? Universal health care creates a new "right" that requires the government to infringe upon your right to property (pursuit of happiness) in order to provide me with this pseudo-right. I have to take from you to enjoy this "right." That's just plain wrong!

Those of you who don't see anything wrong with this thought process are completely missing the mark concerning the proper definition of the word "right." A true right--or what the Founding Fathers called an "unalienable right"--is a blessing from God. It is given to us by God and cannot be taken away from us by man. It is not given to us by man, or by man's government, by taking it away from someone else. That's called "theft" and it's immoral.

How should the health care "crisis" be solved then? Well, first of all, I don't believe that we have a health care crisis in our country. It is an indisputable fact that the majority of Americans who don't have health care are doing so by choice. How do I know this? I know it because of the experiences of the various states who have created universal health care programs at the state level (this includes Indiana). In every case, without fail, each state had to create an additional program to "educate" people about the existence of the new tax-supported programs and to "convince" the uninsured to enroll. The additional "re-education programs" have added millions of dollars to the cost of the original entitlement program. I am convinced that there is no need for universal health care.

I also know that it is a fact that anyone needing emergency medical care can walk into any emergency room in the nation and get free care. That's the law. People can get a free ambulance ride to the emergency room, as well, in case of emergency.

We solve the insurance problem by sticking with the free market. Allow people to shop across state lines for insurance. Insurance companies licensed in one state could sell to consumers in the other 49 states. Insurance plans could be tailored to the needs of the individual. Cost would go down. More people would choose to buy insurance. And it wouldn't cost the taxpayer one solitary nicklel.

That's the solution, and I don't have to steal from you to make it happen. How simple it is to trust the free market rather than creating new "rights."

why are we a shining city on a hill?

I can't post a link to one of Ronald Reagan's greatest speeches without commenting on it (see previous post).

There has never, in the history of the world, been a nation that has been as rich or powerful as the United States, or which has used it's wealth and power to achieve as much good as the United States. These facts are indisputable:

1. The United States of America is the greatest nation in the history of the world.
2. The United States of America has repeatedly saved the world from totalitarianism and has repeatedly secured freedom and liberty for countless millions of people in every corner of the globe.
3. These actions by the United States have come at a great cost. Well over a million American citizens have died, giving the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of liberty here at home and abroad. Millions more have had to bear the pain of sacrificing their physical health, mental health, and the physical and mental health of their loved ones so that others could enjoy the fruits of liberty. Millions upon millions of children throughout our history have grown up without their fathers, or mothers, or brothers or sisters because those family members were killed on foreign soil defending others. There has never, in the history of the world, been a country that has sacrificed so many lives and spent so much money to defend the life, liberty and property of the world as the United States of America.
4. The United States of America is the first country in the history of the world to defeat poverty and, in the process of doing so, given the rest of the world a blueprint to accomplish the same. I have frequently said that poverty, as the world understands the term, no longer exists in America. We don't have poor people here in America anymore. Less than 5% of all Americans are unemployed. Contrary to the leftist propaganda, nobody in America has to go to bed hungry at night, or to exist with no shelter. Privately funded charities and publically funded entitlement programs, in addition to the wholesale lowering of taxes over the last 30 years, have allowed all Americans to achieve a level of wealth unprecedented in human history. The blueprint for this success? It's the free market with low taxes. That blueprint is 100% successful, compared with the 0% success rate of socialism. The rest of the world would do well to emulate us.
5. There isn't another nation on earth that is inhabited by people who are as charitable as America. We the people, separate from our military, have spent untold blood, sweat, tears and dollars to help the needy all across the globe. This unprecedented generosity is a reflection of America's Christian heritage, and it is largely ignored by the leftist intelligentsia.
6. In the words of Lord Acton of England, as quoted by Pres. Reagan, "They (the Founders) had solved with astonishing ease and unduplicated success two problems which had heretofore baffled the capacity of the most enlightened nations. They had contrived a system of federal government which prodigiously increased national power and yet respected local liberties and authorities, and they had founded it on a principle of equality without surrendering the securities of property or freedom." Never in any society has the preeminence of the individual been so firmly established and given such a priority. This unique balancing act comes from the fact that our republic was founded on the principle that our basic human rights are given to us by God, and that we the people empower government to safeguard those rights. Our rights are not bestowed upon us by government. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the secret, in a nutshell, of America's greatness.

Of course, America's history is full of imperfections. There has never been a perfect nation in the history of the world. There can be no disputing, however, unless you are afflicted with the cancer of liberalism, that America has achieved a level of greatness higher than has ever been achieved, and that we are the last best hope of man on earth.

Pres. Reagan recognized that truth and was able to articulate the truth better than anyone else in the 20th Century. We would do well to reflect on that truth, and the reasons why it's true.

we will be a city on a hill

Thirty three years ago, Ronald Wilson Reagan gave this speech to the first annual Conservative Political Action Conference. The man who would later become the greatest president of the 20th Century spoke at length of our unique American heritage, about what it means to be an American, and about how America remains, and will continue to be, "the last best hope of man on earth." His words are just as important today as they were then, and maybe more so. America's leftists relentlessly beat us over the head about everything that's wrong with America and with our Christian conservative heritage, to the point that many well-intentioned Americans actually believe them. Even so, there is still a majority in this country who don't believe the lies, and who are craving principled leadership to bring America back to the guiding principles which have served as our foundation ever since 1776.

Pres. Reagan's speech should be required reading in every classroom in America. You can find it at the following link. Enjoy!

http://www.american-partisan.com/cols/reagan1974.htm

is this how we're being helped by illegal immigration?

From the FBI:

CRIME STATISTICS
95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.

83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix are for illegal aliens.

86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal aliens.

75% of those on the most wanted list in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Albuquerque are illegal aliens.

24.9% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally

40.1% of all inmates in Arizona detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally

48.2% of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally

29% (630,000) convicted illegal alien felons fill our state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually

53% plus of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens.

50% plus of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens from south of the border.

71% plus of all apprehended cars stolen in 2005 in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California were stolen by Illegal aliens or “transport coyotes".

47% of cited/stopped drivers in California have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 47%, 92% are illegal aliens.

63% of cited/stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 63%, 97% are illegal aliens

66% of cited/stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66% 98% are illegal aliens.

BIRTH STATISTICS
380,000 plus “anchor babies” were born in the U.S. in 2005 to illegal alien parents, making 380,000 babies automatically U.S. citizens.

97.2% of all costs incurred from those births were paid by the American taxpayers.

66% plus of all births in California are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers

Additional statistics From Independent Sources:
12 Americans (on average) are murdered each day by illegal immigrants

8 American children, on average, are sexually molested by illegal immigrants each day

sen. joe lieberman--one of the few voices of sanity in today's democrat party

www.conservative.org/pressroom/2007/070820jl.htm Damascus International Airport Is A Hub For Terrorists

karl rove, elvira arellano, and the cultural marxists--teammates on the same side

Elvira Arellano broke U.S. federal law in 1997 when she sneaked illegally into our country from Mexico. That makes her a felon. She was caught and deported. Arellano stayed back in Mexico for about a minute, and then she snuck back into the United States. That's another felony which, if our government chose to prosecute her, would earn her 20 years in prison.

Arellano was arrested in Chicago in 2002 by Immigration and Customs (ICE) agents. It seems that she was employed at O'Hare International Airport by a janitorial service. According to ICE, she had access to security sensitive areas in the airport. After her arrest, Arellano was actually prosecuted for illegally using someone else's Social Security number. That's Felony #3, for those of you keeping score at home.

She was allowed to serve 3 years probation and stay in this country for that time (that just blows my mind!) and then was supposed to be deported in August 2006. Guess what? Arellano sought sanctuary at the Adalberto United Methodist Church (or should I say House of Cultural Marxism?) in Chicago. This "Three Times a Felon" (my apologies to Lionel Ritchie) has lived in that church for the past year.

Last weekend, Arellano left the church to go to Los Angeles for the illegal immigration rally. She was arrested and faces deportation. By the way, she has an 8-year old son who was born here in the U.S., which makes him a "legal" U.S. citizen. Arellano wants him to stay in the U.S., even if she is deported, but she is fighting to stay. Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Luis Guttierez have sponsored legislation that will make Arellanos a permanent resident.

I didn't tell this story to criticize Durbin or Guttierez--they are hard core leftists and their actions come as no surprise. They despise the America created by our Fathers and seek to transform our nation into an America in the image of Marxism. We know all about them.

I tell this story to criticize Pres. Bush and Karl Rove. Bush's sympathies and opinions on this matter are well known. He wants to provide instant citizenship to all illegals and then invite a whole bunch more to break into our country. He has the most ignorant idea that all of these illegals will be so greatful that they will all join the GOP. He's wrong. He also has the most ignorant idea that America "needs" the illegals. He's wrong about that, as well. We don't need a brand new criminal class of 25 million people (and rising) who have no wish to assimilate into our culture and who seek to suck up as much "free" goods and services as our government will provide for them--at taxpayer expense, of course!

The Bush administration, by allowing illegal immigrants (who are felons, by the way) to openly break our laws with no fear of punishment, breeds contempt for all of our laws by all of our citizens. Pres. Bush is sowing the seeds for a culture of lawlessness which will destroy the America that we have always known, unless we the people stand up and stop him.

What does Karl Rove have to do with all of this? Here's a quote from "The Boy Genius They Call Turd Blossom" (Bush's nickname for Rove) from earlier this week:

When asked why the Bush administration wants to provide a "path to citizenship" (code for "amnesty") for illegals, Rove answered, "I don't want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas."

There's nothing I could add to that. The quote stands by itself and tells you everything you need to know about the Bush/Rove mentality.

1 corinthians 11

1-3 Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.

4-6 It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything.

7-12 I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us.

12-15 And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end.

16-21 Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff.

21-23 Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.)

23-27 I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

28-29 And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.

30-33 If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.

numbers 1

The truly significant portion of this chapter is found in verses 47-51. The people of Israel were given certain instructions by God. How did they respond? "The People of Israel did everything that God commanded Moses. They did it all." There's a great lesson there!


1-5 God spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai at the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the second month in the second year after they had left Egypt. He said, "Number the congregation of the People of Israel by clans and families, writing down the names of every male. You and Aaron are to register, company by company, every man who is twenty years and older who is able to fight in the army. Pick one man from each tribe who is head of his family to help you. These are the names of the men who will help you: from Reuben: Elizur son of Shedeur 6 from Simeon: Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai 7 from Judah: Nahshon son of Amminadab 8 from Issachar: Nethanel son of Zuar 9 from Zebulun: Eliab son of Helon 10 from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud from Manasseh: Gamaliel son of Pedahzur 11 from Benjamin: Abidan son of Gideoni 12 from Dan: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai 13 from Asher: Pagiel son of Ocran 14 from Gad: Eliasaph son of Deuel 15 from Naphtali: Ahira son of Enan."
16 These were the men chosen from the congregation, leaders of their ancestral tribes, heads of Israel's military divisions.
17-19 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named to help and gathered the whole congregation together on the first day of the second month. The people registered themselves in their tribes according to their ancestral families, putting down the names of those who were twenty years old and older, just as God commanded Moses. He numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.
20-21 The line of Reuben, Israel's firstborn: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by tribes according to their ancestral families. The tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500.
22-23 The line of Simeon: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300.
24-25 The line of Gad: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Gad numbered 45,650.
26-27 The line of Judah: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Judah numbered 74,600.
28-29 The line of Issachar: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400.
30-31 The line of Zebulun: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400.
32-33 The line of Joseph: From son Ephraim the men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500.
34-35 And from son Manasseh the men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200.
36-37 The line of Benjamin: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400.
38-39 The line of Dan: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Dan numbered 62,700.
40-41 The line of Asher: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Asher numbered 41,500.
42-43 The line of Naphtali: The men were counted off head by head, every male twenty years and older who was able to fight in the army, registered by clans and families. The tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400.
44-46 These are the numbers of those registered by Moses and Aaron, registered with the help of the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each representing his ancestral family. The sum total of the People of Israel twenty years old and over who were able to fight in the army, counted by ancestral family, was 603,550.
47-51 The Levites, however, were not counted by their ancestral family along with the others. God had told Moses, "The tribe of Levi is an exception: Don't register them. Don't count the tribe of Levi; don't include them in the general census of the People of Israel. Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of The Dwelling of The Testimony—over all its furnishings and everything connected with it. Their job is to carry The Dwelling and all its furnishings, maintain it, and camp around it. When it's time to move The Dwelling, the Levites will take it down, and when it's time to set it up, the Levites will do it. Anyone else who even goes near it will be put to death.
52-53 "The rest of the People of Israel will set up their tents in companies, every man in his own camp under its own flag. But the Levites will set up camp around The Dwelling of The Testimony so that wrath will not fall on the community of Israel. The Levites are responsible for the security of The Dwelling of The Testimony."
54 The People of Israel did everything that God commanded Moses. They did it all.

an indianapolis police officer needs support, not criticism

indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070822/
LOCAL18/708220484

Officer Adam Chappell of the Indianapolis Metro Police Department has been charged with misdemeanor battery after being accused of kicking and beating a prisoner who was handcuffed and laying on the ground. The incident was videotaped by IMPD cameras and you can view it if you go to the above link.

I am not a bit reluctant to say that I have great sympathy for the officer and that I support him, and I'll tell you why.

First, the video is not at all conclusive as to what the officer's actions were and what precipitated those actions. The officer made no attempt to cover up what he did; in fact, he put it into his report. Officer Chappell stated that the prisoner was resisting arrest and that he kicked and hit 2 officers as they tried to subdue him. Officer Chappell states that he kicked the subject to subdue him. There is nothing in the video that disproves Chappell's version of the story.

Second, this incident took place at Indiana Black Expo or, as I like to call it, Indianapolis' Annual Festival of Rioting, Lawlessness and Civil Unrest. For that brief period of time that Black Expo rides into town, Indianapolis turns into a modern-day Dodge City. Every year Indy sees shootings, vandalism, fighting and public drunkeness become the norm downtown. Law abiding citizens of all races are well advised to stay away from downtown Indy during Black Expo because it's quite likely you will become a statistic if enter the shooting gallery.

I say that because, several years ago, the city of Indianapolis--and by that, I mean the "progressive" Peterson administration--made the decision that actually cleaning up the violence and arresting the criminals and restoring law and order during Black Expo would be tantamount to racism. Imagine that! If we arrest people who commit crimes then we are a racist! Good grief! Only in the upside down, Puff the Magic Dragon world of liberalism could anybody actually believe anything so ignorant!

That's the environment that Officer Chappell was working in. Hundreds of blacks from all over the country were rioting in downtown Indy, and the police are hamstrung in their attempts to restore order. Do you think they get a little frustrated? Of course they do.

I'll tell you this--if the police were allowed to crack down on Black Expo, and arrest all of the criminals, and crack the heads of those who resist, then Indy would be a whole lot safer for blacks and whites.

Alas, there's not much chance of that happening with a Democrat, progressive mayor like Bart Peterson in office!

whatever happened to self reliance?

miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/story/
206731.html

This is a very interesting column from Leonard Pitts of The Miami Herald. Pitts writes of a man living in Southern California who has publicly talked about his sexual attraction to little girls. He doesn't try to hide it, either. He has never been arrested on child molestation charges and, as far as anyone knows has never touched a little girl, but he is attracted to them. The man has posted photographs online of little girls--photos that he has taken. He has posted "how-to" instructions for child molesters as to where are the best places to find children. He hangs out in the children's section of the library so that he can be around little girls.

Of course this is sickening, but the law "can't" (won't) do anything. He has broken no specific statutes so he is free to act as he wishes.

Mr. Pitts expresses the notion that this is how it's supposed to be in a "civilized" republic. We are a nation of laws, and this pedophile hasn't broken any, so we are obligated to just ignore him.

Uh....no we aren't.

Why is it that we have devolved so far as a people that we think that self defense/personal protection is solely the responsibility of the government? That was never the thinking of clear-thinking Americans before--at least, for the first 180 years or so of our existence as a nation.

I'll spell it out. YOU are responsible for self defense/personal protection. YOU are responsible for making the streets of your city/town safe. Don't sit around like some sort of invalid waiting for Mommy and Daddy Government to come to your rescue.

The good people of Santa Clarita need to buck up and get this situation under control. Citizen watch groups should be organized to keep this freak under surveillance 24/7. They should be armed with camcorders and cell phones so that they can record his every move and so the police can be called in case of emergency. They need to keep detailed notes as to his daily activities so that, in case he commits a crime, the notes can be used against him in a court of law. Posters showing his picture should be placed everywhere in town so that people recognize him on sight. The posters should be placed outside his place of employment, as well. His co-workers need to know just who they work with.

Notice that I am not advocating vigilante justice. I am not calling for a mob to drag the guy into the streets to be hanged from the highest tree. He shouldn't be touched or harmed in any way. But he absolutely should be the focus of INTENSE scrutiny, and he should never be in the presence of a child without a group of citizens being right there with him.

That's the American way. Why are we so afraid to protect that which is so precious to us?

is this what we want for education in america?

townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2007/08/20/
the_nea_lists_its_goals_and_the_democratic_party_agrees

This is why it is so important to vote against leftist candidates every time we have the opportunity. The left is killing America, and we can't let them get away with it.

this is just the kind of behavior we have come to expect from the left

Robert Spencer is director of Jihad Watch and author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)" and "The Truth About Muhammad." You can read his bio, as well as his answers to many frequently asked questions, at http://jihadwatch.org/spencer/. He is one of the world's foremost experts on Islam.

I should make it very clear from the outset that Spencer doesn't hate Muslims. He is not a bigot. Robert Spencer simply recognizes that there are many Muslims in the world who support violent jihad against the "infidels" of the West, and who believe that the infidels must be killed. Because of that, supporters of Islamofascism and America's radical left (that's redundant, isn't it?) have made Spencer a target for harassment, intimidation, and hate.

A fatwa has been issued for Spencer. As you may or may not know, a fatwa is a legal decree in sharia law requiring any Muslim to kill Spencer if they get the opportunity. Please read the last line of the fatwa:

"May Allah rip out his spine from his back and split his brains in two, and then put them both back, and then do it over and over."

That's not real scary, is it? And the Islamofascists are people liberals want to "reason" with? Good luck on that!

Recently, Robert Spencer was invited to speak at a conference hosted by the Young America's Foundation in Washington, D.C. YAF is the leading conservative organization for high school and college-aged Americans, and there is a link to that organization's website on the right side bar. YAF was well aware that various groups have been trying to silence Spencer. One of those groups is The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). This is the same CAIR whose founders have been arrested on terrorism charges. This is the same CAIR that has leaped to the defense of every single jihadist ever arrested in the United States on terrorism charges. CAIR is nothing more than the legal arm of Islamofascism, dedicated to the spread of jihad here in America.

The day before Spencer gave his talk at the conference, a leftist Washington D.C. law firm, hired by CAIR, faxed a letter to YAF informing them that Spencer's talk would be monitored and that the law firm had been instructed by CAIR to "purse every available and appropriate legal remedy to redress any false and defamatory statements that made" at the conference."

That's pretty amazing, isn't it? An American law firm has decided that it's OK to use fascist techniques to silence those who exercise their 1st Amendment rights by speaking out about Islamofascism. CAIR says that they are a peaceful organization, yet they are willing to use the entire weight of America's legal system to beat their opponents into silent submission.

Folks, this is what we're up against. There are an awful lot of people in this country who hate America so much that they will support the Islamofascist terrorists who seek to destroy us. These "useful idiots" (as Stalin called them) on the left are more than willing to do the enemy's bidding, oblivious to the fact that they will be the first ones killed if the terrorists should succeed in defeating America.

Those of us who call ourselves Christian conservatives must continue to speak the truth in the face of all the lies marketed by the left. We must continue to be strong leaders in our families as we seek to lead them to the truth. We must exercise our rights as American citizens to defeat the candidates from the left who want to destroy the America of our Fathers. And we must pray.

This is the only way to save America.

no child left behind is destroying what's left of american public education

www.theconservativevoice.com/article/27387.html

This is one of the best articles I have ever read about public education, and specifically NCLB. As a veteran of the public schools, I can tell you that NCLB is unconstitutional and it is destroying public education in this country (as if public education wasn't in bad enough shape anyway!). By the time that NCLB gets reauthorized, the federal Dept. of Education will have become the new school board for each and every school corporation in the country, with Congress and the President pulling the strings. Within 20 years, America's public schools will have moved past being just useless and will have become dangerous! The very few good public schools in this country will cease to exist.

And millions of American children will have been "left behind" as they were pulled into the morass of cultural Marxism.

2 corinthians 10

1 Christ is gentle and free of pride. So I make my appeal to you. I, Paul, am the one you call shy when I am face to face with you. But when I am away from you, you call me bold. 2 I beg you that when I come I won't have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people. They think that I live the way the people of this world live.

3 I do live in the world. But I don't fight my battles the way the people of the world do. 4 The weapons I fight with are not the weapons the world uses. In fact, it is just the opposite. My weapons have the power of God to destroy the camps of the enemy.

5 I destroy every claim and every reason that keeps people from knowing God. I keep every thought under control in order to make it obey Christ. 6 Until you have obeyed completely, I will be ready to punish you every time you don't obey.

7 You are looking only at what appears on the surface of things. Suppose you are sure you belong to Christ. Then you should consider again that I belong to Christ just as much as you do.

8 Do I brag too much about the authority the Lord gave me? If I do, it's because I want to build you up, not pull you down. And I'm not ashamed of that kind of bragging.

9 Don't think that I'm trying to scare you with my letters. 10 Some say, "His letters sound important. They are powerful. But in person he doesn't seem like much. And what he says doesn't amount to anything." 11 People like that have a lot to learn. What I say in my letters when I'm away from you, I will do in my actions when I'm with you.

12 I don't dare to compare myself with those who praise themselves. I'm not that kind of person. They measure themselves by themselves. They compare themselves with themselves. When they do that, they are not wise.

13 But I won't brag more than I should. Instead, I will brag only about what I have done in the area God has given me. It is an area that reaches all the way to you. 14 I am not going too far in my bragging. I would be going too far if I hadn't come to where you live. But I did get there with the good news about Christ.

15 And I won't brag about work done by others. If I did, I would be bragging more than I should. As your faith continues to grow, I hope that my work among you will greatly increase.

16 Then I will be able to preach the good news in the areas beyond you. I don't want to brag about work already done in someone else's territory.

17 But, "The one who brags should brag about what the Lord has done."—(Jeremiah 9:24)
18 Those who praise themselves are not accepted. Those the Lord praises are accepted.

leviticus 27

1 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 2 "Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, 'Suppose someone makes a special promise to set a person apart to serve me. Here is how much it will cost to set that person free from the promise to serve.

3 " 'The cost for a male between the ages of 20 and 60 is 20 ounces of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. 4 The cost for a female of the same age is 12 ounces of silver.

5 " 'The cost for a male between the ages of five and 20 is eight ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is four ounces of silver.

6 " 'The cost for a male between the ages of one month and five years is two ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is one and a fourth ounces of silver.

7 " 'The cost for a male who is 60 years old or more is six ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is four ounces of silver.

8 " 'But suppose the one who makes the special promise is too poor to pay the required amount. Then he must bring to the priest the person who will be set free. The priest will decide the right value for that person. It will be based on how much the one who makes the promise can afford.
9 " 'Suppose what he promised is an animal that I will accept as an offering. Then the animal that is given to me becomes holy. 10 The one who makes the promise must not trade it. He must not trade a good animal for a bad one. And he must not trade a bad animal for a good one. Suppose he chooses one animal instead of another. Then both animals become holy.

11 " 'Suppose the animal he promised is not "clean." Suppose I will not accept it as an offering. Then the animal must be brought to the priest. 12 He will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will be what he decides it will be. 13 Suppose the owner wants to buy the animal back. Then he must add a fifth to its cost.

14 " 'Suppose a man sets his house apart as something that is holy to me. Then the priest will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will remain what he decides it will be. 15 Suppose the man sets his house apart. And suppose later he wants to buy it back. Then he must add a fifth to its value. The house will belong to him again.

16 " 'Suppose a man sets apart a piece of his family's land to me. Then its value must be decided based on the number of seeds that are required to grow a full crop on it. That value will be 20 ounces of silver for every six bushels of barley seeds.

17 " 'Suppose he sets his field apart during the Year of Jubilee. Then the value that has been decided will not be changed. 18 But suppose he sets his field apart after the Year of Jubilee. Then the priest will decide its value based on the number of years that are left until the next Year of Jubilee. The value that was decided will be reduced.

19 " 'Suppose the man who sets his field apart wants to buy it back. Then he must add a fifth to its value. The field will belong to him again. 20 But suppose he does not buy the field back. Instead, suppose he sells it to someone else. Then he can never buy it back.

21 " 'When the field is set free in the Year of Jubilee, it will become holy. It will be like a field that is set apart to me. It will become the property of the priests.

22 " 'Suppose a man sets apart to me a field he has bought. And suppose it is not part of his family's land. 23 Then the priest will decide its value based on the number of years that are left until the Year of Jubilee. The man must pay that value on the day it is decided. The money is holy. It is set apart for me.

24 " 'In the Year of Jubilee the field will go back to the person the man bought it from. That person is the one who had owned the land before.

25 " 'Every amount of money must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent.

26 " 'But no one can set apart the first male animal that is born to its mother. That animal already belongs to me. It does not matter whether it is an ox or a sheep. It belongs to me.

27 " 'Suppose it is an animal that is not "clean." Then the owner may buy it back at the value that has been decided. And he must add a fifth to its value. But suppose he does not buy it back. Then it must be sold at the value that has been decided.

28 " 'But nothing a man owns and sets apart to me can be sold or bought back. It does not matter whether it is a person or an animal or a family's land. Everything that is set apart to me is very holy to me.

29 " 'No one who is set apart in a special way to be destroyed can be bought back. He must be put to death.

30 " 'A tenth of everything the land produces belongs to me. That includes grain from the soil and fruit from the trees. It is holy. It is set apart for me. 31 Suppose a man buys back some of his tenth. Then he must add a fifth of the cost to it.

32 " 'The whole tenth of his herds and flocks will be holy. They will be set apart for me. That includes every tenth animal that its shepherd marks with his wooden staff. 33 The owner must not pick out the good animals from the bad. He must not choose one animal instead of another. But if he does, both animals become holy. They can't be bought back.' "

34 The Lord gave Moses all of those commands on Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.

put your kids to work

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57205

This is a great column from Pat Boone on parenting. If more parents would follow the advice in this column, our kids would be a lot better off!

will the real mitt romney please stand up, part 2

http://christianconservatives.blogspot.com/2007/08/will-real-mitt-romney-please-stand-up.html

Last Thursday, I posted comments about the ever-changing positions of Mitt Romney on the abortion issue (see above link). Romney was for abortion, then he was against abortion but also against overturning Roe v. Wade, then he was staunchly pro-choice, and now he is staunchly pro-life. Got it? Oddly enough, the always evolving Kerry (oops! I mean Romney) always seemed to change his position just when he needed a different group of people to vote for him. That's pretty "nuanced," isn't it?

Romney has explained his latest "flip to the flop" by saying that it was the embryonic stem cell research issue that caused him to re-evaluate his position. Do you believe that?

Would you believe that Mitt Romney currently owns stock in two companies involved in embryonic stem cell research? So says Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily.com (http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57208).

If this is true, then it is further proof of what I said about Romney on Thursday. He is the worst kind of pandering politician. He would say anything to anybody in order to secure their vote. In short, he is John Kerry with a strong jaw. Nothing more, nothing less.

paul preaches in jeruselum--visit easter people

http://easterpeople.blogspot.com/2007/08/paul-arrives-in-jeruselum.html

if a conservative had done this, he would have been fired!

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2007/08/12/leering-chris-matthews-asks-female-cnbc-anchor-move-closer-camera

Have you ever noticed that, for the most part, it's the liberals that don't know how to act in public? Liberals and drunks!

Those of you who are sports fans will remember that Joe Namath embarrassed himself on Monday Night Football a few years ago when he was being interviewed by Suzy Kolber. He kept asking Kolber if he could kiss her--right there on national TV! At least Joe Willie had an excuse. He was filled to the gills with Johnnie Walker Red! I suppose that Matthews' only excuse is that he's a liberal and just doesn't know how to act in public!

marcus aurelius still makes sense today

Emperor Marcus Aurelius of the Roman Empire, who served from AD 161 until his death in AD 180, once made a brilliant observation about the majority. Rush Limbaugh mentioned it on his show this week, and I'll quote it here. From El Rushbo:

Marcus Aurelius on the Majority

RUSH: Marcus Aurelius: "The object of life..." By the way, Eric from Tampa, if you're still out there and you're heading over to Middlesex University, this is a great quote to take with you, or for any kid going off to college. It's actually applicable to all of us: "The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding one's self in the ranks of the insane." Now, to me, this is brilliant. Independents and moderates do precisely this. They sit around and they wait for a majority to form and then they join it, because they can feel like they're part of the majority. They wait to see what makes 'em feel best, and then they join it, and they often end up joining the ranks of the insane. You could say this about global warming opposition. The easy thing to do is to believe it. "Oh, yeah, there's all kind of global warming and it's manmade. Yeah." Get in on it because everybody will applaud you. But you're joining the ranks of the insane if you do that because you're seeking to be part of the majority, and so I just love this quote.

i have some questions for our friendly neighborhood abortionist

Note--All statistics come from Planned Parenthood and the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

1. There are over 1 million abortions performed every year in the United States. 1.2% of those abortions were performed on girls under the age of 15. Simple math says that this amounts to 12,000 girls who the law defines as rape victims. Why do liberals so relentlessly obstruct the prosecution of these rapists?

2. Black women are more than 3 times as likely to have an abortion as white women. Why are liberals so intent on murdering black babies?

3. Over 16,000 babies are murdered each year after the 20th week of pregnancy (By the way, I believe that this number is way low, but that's the number reported by professional baby killers.). Why can't the modern leftist see that this is evil?

the crime of abortion

www.theconservativevoice.com/article/27207.html

From the column, linked to above:

Because we as a society have lost our sense of right and wrong when it comes to abortion, we have to remind people that abortion is indeed a crime, and it is a crime in which the victim is indeed a human being — the least of our brothers and sisters, the preborn child. It is only when personhood is restored under the law to every innocent preborn child that there will be time enough to debate criminal consequences for the criminal act of abortion.

The role of the pro-life movement in America is not to say or do what is acceptable to society. Our role is to tell the truth and make people uncomfortable about legalized murder. We must not be intimidated by those who want us to argue that abortion is something other than what it is. Abortion is a dreadful criminal act.

Reminding America that abortion kills children is not a bad thing; it is the truth. And it is this truth that recognizes that the only way to end abortion is to call it by its proper name and to be prepared to secure protection for all preborn babies. That means establishing personhood so that the victimization of the most vulnerable members of the human family ends. And, please God, let that be soon.

Do you know what one of our biggest problems is, as a nation? Here in America, we have far too many Christians, and far to many Christian church leaders, who are afraid of speaking the truth in the face of evil. Abortion is an atrocity, yet too many Christians are afraid to say so. Killing a baby is the worst kind of evil, but too many Christian pastors are afraid to say so from the pulpit because they don't want to offend anyone.

Guess what? I don't care who I offend! Those of you who are regular visitors to my blog already know this. There is good in this world and there is evil, and we cannot hesitate to confront evil! The lies and hypocrisy that are so much a part of the forces of evil in this world must be exposed by people who know the truth.

Jesus told us that we are to be meek, but He never said to be timid! Meekness is power restrained. That power is restrained because we recognize our own sinfulness and we are ashamed of that sinfulness. But our shame over our broken condition must never cause us to be afraid of speaking truth and confronting deception.

Our world needs us, now more than ever, to courageously fight against sin. God will equip us for the fight, just as He equipped David in his fight against Goliath. We have nothing to be afraid of.

Every day we delay, another 3700 babies are murdered (126,000 worldwide). It's time to get busy.

liberal hypocrisy as illustrated by a very wise rabbi

www.caucusforamerica.com/opinion.art.php?pID=386

As usual, Rabbi Aryeh Spero has hit the nail on the head. The devotees of cultural Marxism who have so polluted our colleges and universities, our mainstream media, and our entertainment industries are completely devoid of anything resembling courage, character or integrity. It doesn't take any courage for those on the left to continually discriminate against and persecute those of us who call ourselves Christians. We won't retaliate with violence. Heck, most of us won't even talk nasty to them in retaliation (I recognize myself as an exception to that rule)! How much courage does it take to hit a punching bag?

On the other hand, the modern leftist knows that an angry Muslim is very likely to kill you in a most horrific way if even slightly provoked. Those would be some people to step and fetch for! And of course, there's the added bonus that the angry Muslim they were bowing and scraping to hates Christians as much as the leftist, so that's nice too. Hence, a major double standard in the liberal treatment of Christians, as opposed to Muslims.

There are a lot of words to describe this, but "courageous" isn't one of them.

...and liberals are worried about a little wiretappimg?

www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21831

This is an outstanding column by Mac Johnson. Liberal hypocrisy has never been so clearly illustrated!

u.s. taxpayers are going to fund islamofascism

www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57119

centerforajustsociety.com/press/article_ideasinaction.asp?pr=2508

Imagine for a moment a purely hypthetical situation. Imagine that Jasper, Indiana--a small, predominantly Catholic town in southern Indiana--had decided to fund a brand new Catholic school. The new school would teach the history and traditions of Catholicism. It would teach the traditional Catholic prayers and rituals to the students. The writings and pronouncements of the various popes throughout history would be part of the curriculum. The students would be taught to respect and support the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Question: Just how loud would the screaming be from the ACLU?

Second question: But it's OK to have all of the above in New York City if you subsitute the word "Islam" for the word "Catholic?"

This school is going to draw from a radically Islamofascist mosque just a few blocks away. Why in the world would those nutty leftists in New York's government think that it's OK to provide training, at taxpayer expense, to people who hate America and who want to kill us?

Answer: Because nutty leftists hate America and want to kill us! It's just that simple.

the iowa "bounce" for huckabee

www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21970

This is an interesting column about Mike Huckabee and his post-Iowa euphoria. I have no idea if he will be able to parlay this mini-jolt of momentum into something bigger and longer-lasting, but it will be fun to watch. America needs him!

Although I do like Huckabee, I can't help but disagree with him--strongly--on part of his strategy. From the column:

Asked several questions about competitors -- even Democrats such as Obama -- Huckabee said repeatedly that he’d like to give them a break. Is that naïve? Not for a guy who has managed to survive and thrive as a Republican in Arkansas.

But can that same man defeat his heavyweight primary opponents and then be tough enough to go 15 rounds with Hillary Clinton?

I told Gov. Huckabee that having grown up in Mayor Giuliani’s city rather than Huckabee’s state (and like many journalists) I expected to see some blood on the canvas before this was over.

He chuckled at that. “You always want the other guy to draw first blood,” he said. “I won’t put the other guy’s blood on the canvas first.” Can Huckabee allow the Clinton war machine to choose the time and place of battle, to draw first blood? Can any Republican? Given the temperament of the Republican leaders, we will probably find out.

I disagree. That's the strategy that almost cost Pres. Bush the 2004 election. Gov. Huckabee must be willing to confidently--with a smile on his face--illustrate the profound differences between his vision for America and the Democrat vision. He must be specific by naming names and connecting those names to quotes that illustrate the differences. For instance, Huckabee has to call out Hillary Clinton on her socialist beliefs. He must use actual quotes from her, and show America how different he is from a socialist New York senator. Huckabee must be willing to take the gloves off and show the American people why it is so dangerous to elect a Democrat to the presidency, and then he must offer specifics as to how his ideas are superior.

That kind of discussion will put "blood on the canvas." That's OK. We can't be afraid to go after the enemy and to showcase the inferiority of their ideals.

Huckabee can't be president if he's unwilling to do that.

the rise of christianity in sweden

http://acuf.org/issues/issue89/070805news.asp

God's power will not be denied, even in the most secular regions on Earth. This is a great article.

a tale of two houses, and liberal hypocricy

http://conservative.org/pressroom/2007/070806twohouses.htm

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then two pictures should be worth a whole Al Gore science fiction movie!

2 corinthians 9

1-2 If I wrote any more on this relief offering for the poor Christians, I'd be repeating myself. I know you're on board and ready to go. I've been bragging about you all through Macedonia province, telling them, "Achaia province has been ready to go on this since last year." Your enthusiasm by now has spread to most of them.

3-5 Now I'm sending the brothers to make sure you're ready, as I said you would be, so my bragging won't turn out to be just so much hot air. If some Macedonians and I happened to drop in on you and found you weren't prepared, we'd all be pretty red-faced—you and us—for acting so sure of ourselves. So to make sure there will be no slipup, I've recruited these brothers as an advance team to get you and your promised offering all ready before I get there. I want you to have all the time you need to make this offering in your own way. I don't want anything forced or hurried at the last minute.

6-7 Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.

8-11 God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out.This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

12-15 Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they'll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!

leviticus 26

1 "Don't make idols for yourselves; don't set up an image or a sacred pillar for yourselves, and don't place a carved stone in your land that you can bow down to in worship. I am God, your God.

2 "Keep my Sabbaths; treat my Sanctuary with reverence. I am God.

3-5 "If you live by my decrees and obediently keep my commandments, I will send the rains in their seasons, the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. You will thresh until the grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting time; you'll have more than enough to eat and will live safe and secure in your land.

6-10 "I'll make the country a place of peace—you'll be able to go to sleep at night without fear; I'll get rid of the wild beasts; I'll eliminate war. You'll chase out your enemies and defeat them: Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand and do away with them. I'll give you my full attention: I'll make sure you prosper, make sure you grow in numbers, and keep my covenant with you in good working order. You'll still be eating from last year's harvest when you have to clean out the barns to make room for the new crops.

11-13 "I'll set up my residence in your neighborhood; I won't avoid or shun you; I'll stroll through your streets. I'll be your God; you'll be my people. I am God, your personal God who rescued you from Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I ripped off the harness of your slavery so that you can move about freely.

14-17 "But if you refuse to obey me and won't observe my commandments, despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant, I'll step in and pour on the trouble: debilitating disease, high fevers, blindness, your life leaking out bit by bit. You'll plant seed but your enemies will eat the crops. I'll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You'll run scared even when there's no one chasing you.

18-20 "And if none of this works in getting your attention, I'll discipline you seven times over for your sins. I'll break your strong pride: I'll make the skies above you like a sheet of tin and the ground under you like cast iron. No matter how hard you work, nothing will come of it: No crops out of the ground, no fruit off the trees.

21-22 "If you defy me and refuse to listen, your punishment will be seven times more than your sins: I'll set wild animals on you; they'll rob you of your children, kill your cattle, and decimate your numbers until you'll think you are living in a ghost town.

23-26 "And if even this doesn't work and you refuse my discipline and continue your defiance, then it will be my turn to defy you. I, yes I, will punish you for your sins seven times over: I'll let war loose on you, avenging your breaking of the covenant; when you huddle in your cities for protection, I'll send a deadly epidemic on you and you'll be helpless before your enemies; when I cut off your bread supply, ten women will bake bread in one oven and ration it out. You'll eat, but barely—no one will get enough.

27-35 "And if this—even this!—doesn't work and you still won't listen, still defy me, I'll have had enough and in hot anger will defy you, punishing you for your sins seven times over: famine will be so severe that you'll end up cooking and eating your sons in stews and your daughters in barbecues; I'll smash your sex-and-religion shrines and all the paraphernalia that goes with them, and then stack your corpses and the idol-corpses in the same piles—I'll abhor you; I'll turn your cities into rubble; I'll clean out your sanctuaries; I'll hold my nose at the "pleasing aroma" of your sacrifices. I'll turn your land into a lifeless moonscape—your enemies who come in to take over will be shocked at what they see. I'll scatter you all over the world and keep after you with the point of my sword in your backs. There'll be nothing left in your land, nothing going on in your cities. With you gone and dispersed in the countries of your enemies, the land, empty of you, will finally get a break and enjoy its Sabbath years. All the time it's left there empty, the land will get rest, the Sabbaths it never got when you lived there.

36-39 "As for those among you still alive, I'll give them over to fearful timidity —even the rustle of a leaf will throw them into a panic. They'll run here and there, back and forth, as if running for their lives even though no one is after them, tripping and falling over one another in total confusion. You won't stand a chance against an enemy. You'll perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will eat you up. Any who are left will slowly rot away in the enemy lands. Rot. And all because of their sins, their sins compounded by their ancestors' sins.

40-42 "On the other hand, if they confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, their treacherous betrayal, the defiance that set off my defiance that sent them off into enemy lands; if by some chance they soften their hard hearts and make amends for their sin, I'll remember my covenant with Jacob, I'll remember my covenant with Isaac, and, yes, I'll remember my covenant with Abraham. And I'll remember the land.

43-45 "The land will be empty of them and enjoy its Sabbaths while they're gone. They'll pay for their sins because they refused my laws and treated my decrees with contempt. But in spite of their behavior, while they are among their enemies I won't reject or abhor or destroy them completely. I won't break my covenant with them: I am God, their God. For their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I, with all the nations watching, brought out of Egypt in order to be their God. I am God."

46 These are the decrees, laws, and instructions that God established between himself and the People of Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai.