Saturday, January 28, 2012

George Washington Speaks Today

George Washington
First Inaugural Address
In the City of New York
Thursday, April 30, 1789

“it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency … since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

As our first President took the oath of office and gave his first inaugural address he thanked God for bringing this country into existence and acknowledged the covenant that America had with God Almighty. Then he and House of Representatives and the Senate walked several blocks to the Chapel of Saint John to further pray for God’s blessings on the new country. The United States of America began with a dedication to Almighty God.

That small Chapel of dedication was and is yet located on the corner of Ground Zero. In fact at the time of the dedication the Chapel of Saint John had a field that extended from its cemetery. Many years later the Twin Towers of 9/11 were built on that very field. A Sycamore tree was planted also just in front of the cemetery and during the attack of 9/11 steel beams from the towers flew through the air cutting down that very Sycamore tree thus shielding the little stone chapel from destruction.

As our country sought to recover from that devastating attack no less than three of our nation’s leaders, the then leader of the Senate, Tom Daschle, the President and a Vice Presidential candidate made prideful and arrogant statements about how we would rebuild and overcome our enemies. The Biblical verse they chose to quote was Isaiah 9:10 –

"The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars." – Isaiah 9:10

Little did they realize these very words were God’s pronouncement of judgment on a nation that had turned away from Him. Isaiah 9:9 says –

“The Lord sent a word against Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel. All the people will know--Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria--Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:”

But our country did not turn in repentance and humility to the LORD. Oh, for a few weeks people began attending churches again but, that was short lived and there was no national call to humility and repentance before God Almighty. Instead three years later a large Cedar tree was planted in the hole left by the Sycamore tree amidst a ceremony at which the Governor of New York made grand statements about rebuilding. The roots of the Sycamore tree had been made into a bronze sculpture and placed at the head of Wall Street as a memorial of our national resolve to grow stronger in spite of the attack.

The ‘movers and shakers’ that lead our country did not realize that Isaiah had warned that without repentance we would be visited again in seven years with more judgment. In exactly seven years from 9/11 in 2008 Wall Street was hit with the largest stock crash in our history. Isn’t it odd that they had placed the bronze roots of the Sycamore tree, the metal of Biblical judgment, at the corner of Wall Street?

Over 200 years ago George Washington spoke in his inaugural address the following warning –

“since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained”

There is no doubt that our country began on a covenant basis with Almighty God and there was no doubt in George Washington’s mind that our blessings would continue as long as we obeyed God’s eternal rules set down in Holy Scripture.
But we have rejected those ‘eternal rules’, thumbed our nose at God and shut Him out of our national life. As a result our ‘hedge of protection’ has been removed. What Washington and our first leaders knew as blessings on -

Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency”  

is no longer available to us. We have only judgments to look forward to, whether they be political, natural, or financial in nature. The next seven year period will arrive in 2015 and there is only one way to forestall it – national repentance!
America’s Christians could greatly aid in the solution to this problem by obeying Second Chronicles 7, verse 14 –

"if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

This election cycle will be our greatest chance to effect this change if we will demand that our leaders humble themselves before Almighty God in public repentance for leaving Him in the first place. We cannot vote for those who willfully disobey God’s will by promoting such actions as abortion, homosexuality, etc. If we do not stand united against clear issues such as these mentioned and make it clear to Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike this election – then we will have lost America forever and we will have to one day stand before Almighty God and try to explain why we were for someone He was against.

Pastor Charles Cooley

Wednesday, January 25, 2012


What has America become?

Has America become the land of special interest and home of the double standard?
Lets see: if we lie to the Congress, it's a felony and if the Congress lies to us its just politics; if we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, its their 1st Amendment right; the government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they doalmost nothing for the victims; in public schools you can teach thathomosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer; we don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them; we got rid ofcommunist and socialist threats by renaming them progressive; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; if you protest againstPresident Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st Amendment right.
You can have pornography on TV or the internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people; we can use a human fetus for medical research, but it is wrong to use an animal.
We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct; parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.
And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.
- Ken Huber
Tawas City
(note:  all links added for articles related to topics within Mr. Huber's article.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

When Truth Falls

Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter. - Isaiah 59:14
I recently watched a montage of protesters against Governor Walker in Wisconsin; rudely disrupting a ceremony honoring Special Olympics participants, disrupting congressional sessions, yelling Nazi slogans and giving Nazi solutes, yelling profanity, handing out false doctor's sick slips to defraud the taxpayers, all the while demanding their rights at the expense of others rights. It matters little whether you voted for or against Governor Walker, are these the attitudes you want taught to your children?


Then I read about our nation's leader, President Obama, issuing a Presidential Order which essentially tells ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to NOT enforce the law concerning arrest and deporting illegal aliens and at the same time using DOJ (Department of Justice) to litigate in several states against legally enacted Voter ID laws. The obvious intent of these actions is to allow illegals to vote for him and other like-minded Democrats in the upcoming elections.


Add to this the so-called Fast and Furious program that allowed the illegal sale of weapons to criminal drug cartel people in Mexico; all designed to give the administration an excuse to curtail American gun ownership. Although the details are well documented, the President and his administration still refuse to cooperate with Congressional investigations committees.


In the midst of these events, and many more, I wonder where the so-called main-stream media is? Even more, I wonder where the Church is. If one looks at the sermons being wrote and delivered in the late 1700's and early 1800's you will find almost all of them had some political overtones to them. That is because churches in those days thought of themselves as the nation's conscience, and they were! Is the church today no longer the moral authority so that it can hold up a higher standard to aspire to? Or is it so filled with the same corruption as the world that it has lost its moral authority?


When righteousness becomes a "stand-off" concept, the inevitable casualty will be justice. When truth "falls in the street", equality will become a forgotten concept and our "rights" will no longer be inalienable (from God) but, will belong to those who yell the loudest, behave the rudest, or steal the most power for themselves.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Hope and Change

PRESIDENCY
SOME WILL APPRECIATE THIS AND SOME WILL NOT.
HOWEVER, ALL OF IT IS TRUE.
After two years of Obama ...
Here's your change!
January 2009
TODAY
% chg
Source
Avg.. Retail price/gallon gas in U.S.
$1.83
$3.44
84%
1
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel)
$43..48
$99..02
127.7%
2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel)
$38..74
$91..38
135.9%
2
Gold: London (per troy oz.)
$853.25
$1,369.50
60.5%
2
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL
$3.56
$6.33
78.1%
2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL
$9.66
$13..75
42.3%
2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb.Fob
$13..37
$35..39
164.7%
2
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall
7.6%
9.4%
23.7%
3
Unemployment rate, blacks
12.6%
15.8%
25.4%
3
Number of unemployed
11,616,000
14,485,000
24.7%
3
Number of fed. Employees
2,779,000
2,840,000
2.2%
3
Real median household income
$50,112
$49,777
-0.7%
4
Number of food stamp recipients
31,983,716
43,200,878
35.1%
5
Number of unemployment benefit recipients
7,526,598
9,193,838
22.2%
6
Number of long-term unemployed
2,600,000
6,400,000
146.2%
3
Poverty rate, individuals
13.2%
14.3%
8.3%
4
People in poverty in U.S.
39,800,000
43,600,000
9.5%
4
U.S.. Rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings
5
9
n/a
10
Present Situation Index
29.9
23.5
-21.4%
11
Failed banks
140
164
17.1%
12
U.S.. Dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate
89.76
82.03
-8.6%
2
U.S.. Money supply, M1, in billions
1,575.1
1,865.7
18.4%
13
U.S.. Money supply, M2, in billions
8,310.9
8,852.3
6.5%
13
National debt, in trillions
$10..627
$14..052
32.2%
14
Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history.
Over 27 times as fast. Metaphorically speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane.
27 times faster, it would be doing 7,555 MPH!
Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor;
(7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC;
(13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury

As you read this, think how important your vote this year will be to every part of your life.