Hardcore Jesus...is He too hardcore?

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9:57-62.
As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
And to another he said, "Follow me." But he replied, "(Lord,) let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
(To him) Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."
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No one who sets their hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.
I've got one thing to say to that statement - Ouch!

What is Jesus saying here? We all have second thoughts. We all wonder in our minds if we are doing the right thing. We daydream about how things were and about our childhood, do you think He's referring to that?
"Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." How do you think Doctor Phil would respond to Jesus over that statement? Sounds like Jesus is not looking for closure and does not seem to care if we have any either. What is the number one point here? Where do you see yourself in this conversation? Are you the person who says to Jesus, I will follow you anywhere? Are you the person who simply asks to go back and say goodbye to their family to which Jesus basically says, let it go and let's get going! Remember, by this time Jesus had already separated Himself from His family in a way. When He was teaching in a small house and His family came to hear Him and the people told Him His brothers and sisters were outside. Jesus responds and says that only those who listen to the words of His Father and follow them are His brothers and sisters...ouch. The cousins were cut off. (Hebrews do not have names for uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces, etc. everyone is a brother or sister in the family).

Jesus is what today would be termed as isolated and focused on His lone quest regardless of who in His life He leaves on the curb. By today's psychological standards this is considered unhealthy. That family is important and we should be on the look out for isolationists, that they may be planning something dangerous and we should alert authorities. Jesus is saying plainly that we are to be like Him in this respect, to look forward and go with a purpose in mind and heart. To cast off family members, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters to carry out the purpose of the kingdom of God. Almost sounds cultish if I may say so but Jesus is not telling people that He is to be adored and worshiped but rather our Heavenly Father who is truly God of all. So is Jesus being too hardcore here? How important was spreading the kingdom of Heaven to Jesus? How seriously did He take His purpose and goal? How important are you taking your part in His purpose and goal? Many will make Jesus to be a piece of milk toast, a person who has gentle features and soft spoken voice who would not swat a fly because it was a creature He created thus it would be out of His character to kill or maim something or someone He created. I respond to that type of thinking by saying that here we listen to and see the real Jesus and His mindset. He is focused and He is driven, He tells others that if they want to follow Him and His ways then they too have to become focused and driven. Jesus is not a frustrated nerd who lived His life at home close to mother and had no real friends and so now is seen as a person striking out because He lacks being heard. Jesus is the Son of God and He has a Holy calling on His life, He was baptized by John in the river Jordan and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and God, the Father spoke and stated that this is His Son. Jesus is the right hand of God the Father and every behavior, every act, every proclamation Jesus exhibits is straight from the character of God the Father Himself.

Is the proclamation too hardcore for you? Is what Jesus says too cultish for you? Have you ever given yourself over to anything in your life in such an extreme way as this? Does it excite you to think about doing it? To cast off all of the world's trappings and follow Jesus with great abandon? To press into God and rely completely upon His provision? Then my friend, why wait any longer, you are fit for the preaching of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Don't wait any longer, run to Him and find your life.

And all were astonished...

"And all were astonished by the majesty of God."
I was reading this just now and it occurred to me that all were astonished. How long has it been since You were astonished? I don't mean just surprised that God remembered you but actually, really astonished in what God has/had done for you in your life? In the gospel of Jesus Christ, according to Saint Luke in Chapter 9 and verse 43b, Doctor Luke points out that all were astonished. According to Webster the definition of astonish is:"to strike with sudden and usually great wonder or surprise."

I pose to you that in this day and age with the glitz and glamor of western culture we have little capacity to be astonished. We see different corners of the globe from the safety and security of our living rooms, viewing from our computer screen through the miracle of the internet. I say miracle because it has enabled you and I to make contact and to share thoughts and ideas and concerns. Your circle of community and mine just grew by a few million at least who may at some time in space view this blog and/or the comments you may leave. This conversation will for just a short sliver of time in God's continuum live for as long as the world wide web does. Do you find that idea astonishing? I do. I may not show my astonishment on the outside but I am astonished that what I write will live on in cyberspace because whatever is posted to the Internet never goes away. 

I leave you with this thought and that is, if we do not find ways to allow ourselves to be astonished, to be surprised, to be elated in our relationship with God then what sort of response do you believe you will express when you meet God face to face?  On one hand I expect there will be some familiarity because of the relationship I have with Him and along with that I expect to feel great levels of awe and wonder. What would help me to overcome the shock and awe will be the warmth from His eyes into mine, the smile He gives to me, the kind of smile that says,"what..you thought it would be Miami Beach?" As a gift, I would like to present Him with something that I can do for Him, offer Him my astonishment. I realize I do not have to do anything for God and I am not speaking of a payback or offering to enter Heaven. What I mean is as one friend offers another friend a precious gift, when the receiver has a face of surprise, a face of unexpected elation, the look of elation and appreciation for the giver becomes all the thank you they need. Does God need my thank you? I do not believe God needs anything, if He did then He would not be God, He would be an incomplete being the same as you and I. What I do believe is that God is love and love is God (First John) and love excites and grows with more and more love. Love unrequited is love still but do you not see and believe that love deserves love in return? I believe God deserves my love in return because of the love He has shown and constantly shows to me in my life. I cannot wow God but do I need to? I believe as my friend, Lord and Master that God would and could be surprised by the look on my face of astonishment because God does not disappoint and God does not leave any detail unattended. God will accept my face of astonishment and elation and be joy filled at my jubilation of entering into the Kingdom and for my gift to Him, He will bless me with a smile that only a parent can give to their child. I believe it is only kind and loving to prepare myself to give a look of astonishment when I see Him in all His splendor and majesty and to prepare myself I am going to practice not being so cynical, not so Not-impressed with nature and the Holy Spirit. I am going to allow myself to become more sensitive to the movements of God in my life. They are subtle and quiet and they are swirling around like a wisp of wind and it takes getting pushed over with a feather, not a 2X4 to receive what God is sharing with you or me today. If someone offers you an ice cream cone today, take it and show your enjoyment when you eat it. If someone gives a "hello," receive it and share with them a look directly into their eyes and give a smile and say, "thank you, and hello to you too!" You never know who you may be encountering, sometimes it will be angels.

Making some dust

Some may notice the Feedburner icon on the right side of the page. I am in the midst of learning how to publish a podcast and then let you know about it. I am putting the cart before the horse in certain respects, I am setting up the framework and then I will post a podcast episode. The technical side of it is all new to me so I am going slow. Please bear with me on the podcasting.

On another side I was looking at Matthew 16: 1-20 where Jesus is telling about the vinyard owner who goes and hires workers in the morning, afternoon and just before the end of the workday. At the end of the day the owner tells his foreman to pay out the wages to all. All were to receive the same wage and that the last to be hired would be the first to get paid. When the workers from the morning saw this they balked and felt it unfair. Jesus gives many good responses about the attitude of the workers and their geleousy toward the others who only worked for an hour and yet received a full day's wage.

A thought ocured to me is that the workers hired in the morning were given the opportunity to work in the vineyard all day. All day they were in the presence of the Master and yet they grumbled at what they saw and took little note of where they were. Those of us who are called into the Kingdom of Heaven by our Master and Lord, by the One who bled and died for all of us on the cross at Calvary are blessed simply to be in His presence. If someone lives a life of sin and on their dying breath they accept the Lord and go to be in His presence should we grumble because this person who lived a life of sin and gets a pass to go and be with God and Jesus for eternity? We who are already called and who already dine at the Lord's supper when we attend communion, we are already in His presence and we work in His vineyard each day. Today is another opportunity to work in His vineyard and the harvest is plenty, the branches hang low with sweet plump juicy fruit and we are provided the best of baskets to put it into along with gloves and a hat. Breaks are whenever we need one and there is cool water for the taking. Lunch will be at the Lord's table and all are invited.  "The harvest is plenty, laborers are few, come with me into the fields. Your arms will grow weary, your shoes will wear thin, come with me into the fields." An old song from church.

Today go and be blessed for you work not for flesh and blood but for the Lord and He gives you special work.

explanation on Fractional Reserve Banking made simple

Thank you for taking a look at this post. I am adding a link to a video created by Pastor Dowell of Straightway.
The video is simple and to the point with great explanation and clear understanding. You may ask if it is necessary to understand fractional reserve banking and should we know it? Yes! Oh Yes! This country and its financial institutions have run on fractional reserve banking since the days of President Andrew Jackson who at the time was very much against such systems or a central bank. Please take time out to listen and view what is said, the information will help you to see how our country is going broke and why. How to convert your useless paper debt note into real usable money such as silver or gold. How the bible even discusses silver and gold and how it can be so easily manipulated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ibJcGSW2hw&feature=channel_video_title

Economic Hitman - 1986

Hello all and happy Labor Day, today I bring a link to a blog, The Energy Non-Crisis blog featuring economic information from Pastor Lindsey Williams and others. This particular entry has a video link for a video series of Lindsey Williams giving a talk to a small crowd and bringing to light some amazing facts. A lot of this was news to me and at the same time filling in the blanks to many unanswered questions. I recommend viewing the videos and if you believe it worthy, please pass along the Non-Crisis blog link to others. Information is key in how we make decisions and what decisions we make. http://lindseywilliams101.blogspot.com/2011/09/lindsey-williams-presents-jonathan-may.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LindseyWilliams+%28Lindsey+Williams%29

Mixed Signals from the author?

Good day to you, I am writing to say that I intended to post the gospel readings this morning that had a great impact on me and a great reflection with it. I believe I will do so here and I will also say that I will post other items today. Something from Pastor Lindsey Williams in regards to world economic news. I will give comment on that information when I make that post. For now I want to say that my blog may seem a mixed bag of items with what appears to be no central theme, that I am all over the map as some would say. To those who think that I will say that I really do have a central theme and that theme is about you and what you are doing with your life. For me information is key. A person recently commented to that statement when I made it to them and they responded with, "information is key, but is it the right information?" I don't know about you but something in that statement sounded like a cop-out, that for this person they would not make decisions based on the best available information of the moment but would rather remain inactive until more information came along. I took their words and pondered on them and still am. I do agree that none of us should move too quickly in a rash manner on hear say and take an action that could lead to something illegal or put your safety in jeopardy.


I am one of the most cautious people I know and I am always wanting to hear that someone else did "blank" first so I can decide what action they took worked out well and all was good. I want to eliminate the risk and be able to act in complete confidence that every decision I am making is of sound mind and information. Partly because I don't want to look like a fool or be called a fool because I acted and my decision making went poorly. I don't want to flub up and I don't want to see a look of disappointment on my wife's face. Some days it is difficult to gain respect of others and to enjoy their approval that I feel as though I walk a fine line. Who put me there? I did, because I sought approval of others and acceptance from others when they are in their space and place and I am in mine. It is really difficult for me to read the mind of my neighbor but on the outside he looks like a good person. That is all any of us have to go on, what we see on the outside. So what do I do with information I collect from the Internet? I research it if I can to verify what is being said as to be true. I also listen to other people that I respect who are in the information business and I look to see if they comment on the same issues and what their spin is on the matter. I also look to local information and see what I can find there if anything important. Lastly I turn to my bible and to my prayer time.




In the Word of God I may find where God talks about the very specific issue I am in quest of and I do take what God says about that issue to heart. In the realm of economics I refer to the book of Lamentations where the acts of a society vomited out upon itself, in the case of Lamentations the city was Israel. It makes sense to me that here in America where c.e.o.s and leaders of companies only plot to fatten their wallets as fast as they can and decide to run leaving in their wake hundreds of displaced workers with no income, no pensions and no immediate fiscal future. People do not save money because it was easier and cheaper to borrow it with a credit card. We were lied to and told that if we acted responsibly with the credit that we could have what we wanted now instead of later and we believed them, just look throughout your town or city and look how many boxes are in the trash collection boxes that once carried a large screen t.v. and a surround sound system. We Americans are wowed by electronics and lights and whistles and bells. We grew up on Pac Man and pin ball machines and now the small thrills stick with us. If we can have a home desk top computer in the palm of our hand and communicate with someone on Facebook from the other side of the globe in a matter of milliseconds then we feel invincible and at the best of our game.  We are given an illusion and because we make it happen with our own hands and fingers we believe the illusion. In the next post I will give you more evidence of the illusion and as always it is up to you the reader to determine whether you believe the information presented on face value or investigate it for yourself. I believe the information based on the fact that I know people to be greedy and that ultimate power corrupts ultimately. For you the reader I do expect you to perform some form of investigation and try your best to disprove what is presented so that you will know for your self what to believe. It is important to know what to believe because the decisions and actions you take afterward will propel you down a coarse deeper into the illusion or reverse coarse away from the illusion. My intention for you is to go toward reality and away from illusion but you must be the one who judges for yourself which is which. If you are experiencing mixed signals from me then let me put your mind at ease, I am not sending mixed signals. My blog entries are always focused on information and on the direction of freedom and liberty for the individual. Whether my entry comes directly from the Word of God or comes from tin foil hat sounding articles my intention is always to present information that will empower the individual and enable that person or family to be less dependent upon government services therefore making that person or family more self reliant and not at the mercy of others as they were before.


Grow in wisdom and knowledge and allow God to loosen your bondage through His written word and then through His spirit which resides in the hearts and minds of true believers, amen.



http://www.dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=readings&localdate=20110905
Daily Gospel readings of the Roman Catholic Mass


http://www.oswaldchambers.co.uk/Readings.php?day=05&month=09
Today's Oswald Chambers reflection

Disaster Preps; portable, potable water equipment

**I am not an expert on water quality or a doctor. I am only passing along information I have come across that I have used to help my family. Please educate yourself on these matters and use care with all things health related.**

This is information on the Berkey black filters is here:http://directive21.com/accessories-black-berkey-purification-element.html

The cost has gone up ten dollars since I bought my last set seven months ago or so. The information about its filtering capabilities is also on the page. The gentleman who owns the company is very good and will take your order via the internet. He usually sends out the equipment the very next business day. It comes from California so it could be a week to receive it.

Also the information about the smaller sport drink bottle is here:http://directive21.com/accessories-sport-berkey.html

Each of the black filters is capable of filtering up to 3,000 gallons of water. A pair makes you good for 6,000 gallons and looking at one gallon of clean potable drinking water per person, per day with a house of four is 28 gallons a week. Dividing that into 6,000 is 214.286 weeks, that is over one year of four gallons a day of potable water for four people. The filters can be scrubbed clean on the outer surface by putting in clean water and brushing off the scale with a Tuffy pad or Scotch Brite pad. You can also back flush the filter to clear out the pores if you have pressurized water source. The filters could last for years if properly taken care of. Pre-filtering the water to be cleaned by running through a large coffee filter to catch leaves, grass, small rocks or sand will help prolong the service life of the filters and lessen the frequency of cleaning. The cleaner the supply, the longer the filters will work for you.

If you feel the need to pre-treat your water with bleach before running through the filters that is OK and probably a good idea if you are unfamiliar with the source. The general rule of thumb is one quarter Teaspoon to one gallon of water is prefered. See instructions here (taken from site in Israel)
http://www.newjerusalem.com/PureWater.htm

Shake or stir the water with the bleach and let air out over night, the bleach will dissipate within 24 hours. That is why even the government health sites suggest using household bleach for water purification, it will dissipate within 24 hours and be non-toxic for humans. Also have bleach on hand that has no perfume as it will taint the water with the perfume. Lola and I found a great deal on bleach at Sam's Club, under $8.00 for a case of three large bottles of bleach and each bottle is a gallon and a half. Large coffee filters (commercial maker size) are sold at Staples for $5.19 per package = 250 filters.http://www.staples.com/Bunn-12-Cup-Coffee-Filters-250-Pack/product_851085

Use a large funnel or flour sifter (examples) to support the filter and pour the water on through into a clean container to be bleached then transfer water to filter system. It will take five hours or longer for the water to flow through the filters but then it is sanitized, clean and free from bacteria. Instructions for building your own Berkey water filter system here:http://www.alpharubicon.com/kids/homemadeberkeydaire.htm

My last suggestion is a filter called the Lifesaver, it was developed by a scientist who after seeing the victims of the Tsunami in 2004 built this filter. The best price I have found it for is on Amazon dot com:
http://www.amazon.com/Lifesaver-Bottle-4000-Ultra-Filtration/dp/B001EHF99A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314321214&sr=8-1  As the gentleman says, the poor people were surrounded by water and were dying of thirst, this filter has saved lives.

Please do not let the price scare you away, at least watch the video, it is amazing and someday I will have this one or its big brother which treats up to 6000 liters. The usefulness of this filter is the amount that it can treat (4000) liters or 1056.688204 gallons. It is highly portable, can be carried with a backpack (B.o.B) and is very efficient. Clean water is the difference between life and death, literally.

So there you have it, all I know about water filters and portable systems. There are other filter systems out there that do a great job, I looked for what could do it in the simplest way possible, less moving parts and I can buy replacement filters with relative ease while the markets are still doing well. Remember the saying, "Two is one and one is none." If you have only one of any item that is crucial to your health and well being then you may as well have none because in this life, everything breaks. Gets lost, stolen, forgotten, left behind, add in your own here. If you have more than one of the critical items then you have redundancy and you have sustainability and that leads to better survival.

 

Prepare, live well and pray always,

Lou.

May you have a Jesus filled day

Did you R.S.V.P?

The Lord God sends out an invitation to all the world to come to His table and many ignore it. Please do not be one of those people but instead come to the feast of God and partake of His goodness. Read here what this man has to say, taken from Daily Gospel website;
 http://www.dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=commentary&localdate=20110818

Thursday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time Commentary of the day
Saint Macarius of Egypt (?-405), monk
Spiritual homilies, no.15, §30-31

«Come to the wedding feast»

In the visible world, if a very small people rise up against the king to make war on him, the latter doesn't bother to lead the operation himself but sends his soldiers with their captains and it is they who engage combat. But if, on the other hand, the people who rise up against him is very powerful and capable of ravaging his kingdom, the king feels he must undertake the campaign himself, together with his court and army, and lead the battle. See, then, what dignity is yours! God himself set out on campaign together with his armies, that is to say the angels and his blessed spirits, coming to defend you himself and deliver you from death. Take heart, then, and behold the providence of which you are the object.

Let us take another example from our present life. Imagine a king who meets a poor, sick man and does not turn away in disgust but heals his wounds with health-giving remedies. He takes him into his palace, clothes him in purple, puts a diadem on him and invites him to his table. This is the way in which Christ, the heavenly king, comes to man in his sickness, heals him and makes him sit down at his royal table, and all this without violating his freedom but drawing him on by persuasion to accept so high an honor.

Indeed, it is written in the Gospel how the Lord sent his servants to invite those who should have been delighted to come, and he sent them a summons: «My dinner is ready!» But those who had been called excused themselves... Do you see what happened? He who sent out the call was ready, but those who were called made off. So it is they who are responsible for their fate. This, then, is the Christian's great dignity. See how the Lord prepares the Kingdom for him and invites him to come in; but as for those others, they refuse to come. From the point of view of the gift they are about to receive we could say that, if someone were to undergo trials from the creation of Adam to the end of the world, they would have done nothing by comparison with the glory they will receive as an inheritance, for they must reign with Christ through endless ages. Glory be to him who has loved that soul so much and entrusted both himself and his grace to it! Glory be to his majesty!

Warning signs of financial collapse

Today I am passing along an audio clip from a fellow blogger: http://lindseywilliams101.blogspot.com/2011/08/euro-is-going-to-fall-fast-lindsey.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LindseyWilliams+%28Lindsey+Williams%29

The speaker is Lindsey Williams and I believe he has some very interesting things to say. If you are interested in such things then I highly recommend jotting down his information and researching for yourself to prove if what he says is evident or plausible.  At the least I would hope his warnings would prompt you to not be stagnant about getting your financial house in order, not to mention your spiritual house. The days and months ahead will take a toll on humanity and if we expect Christians to have an influence on a fallen world we will need to be able to stand with confidence in our God while the others are huddled in the shadows. I will post more on this soon.

May the peace of Jesus be over you this day and may you find courage in Him and Him alone. In the end, He is all any of us will ever have.

Peace.

**One Spirit, One Flesh**

Good morning and may God bless you, I pray that your sleep was good and that His spirit infilled you with your first wakened breath. This morning I share with you the link for today's mass readings and a reflection by Oswald Chambers. They are not written for each other but in a way it seems the good Lord has put them together for today. The readings have to do with our connectedness with God and how He has brought us through much and our connectedness with each other, namely, marriage between one man and one woman. I would ask you to please take note of Jesus' response to being questioned about divorce. How He politely refers back to how things were set up in the beginning, that man and woman would merge and become one flesh (and God is the glue). Please also notice that Jesus makes it plain that some are able to accept marriage and some are not because they are born that way, made that way through others and some that have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Jesus does not spell it out but to me He is stating that we are not all made the same. But, for those that are joined in marriage there are blessings to cover the joining of man and woman (please look to the commentary "They are not two but one flesh") at the end of the page of the gospel, it is a blessing to be said over a couple at the altar. A marriage blessing.
I would encourage those of you that are married to print out that blessing and just before hitting the print button, place your name and your spouse's name inside of the blessing and put it up somewhere that both of you can look at it each day. Maybe once a week stand together and recite the blessing to each other and speak out your names to each other. It is a way to reconnect spiritually with each other and with God in the joining of the one flesh.

In the reflection of Oswald Chambers he reminds us much like the first reading that God has brought His people through great and impossible things. He has chased out enemies of His chosen people using nature's creatures and performed mighty deeds in separating large bodies of water many times to put obstacles between His chosen people and their enemies. God has taken from those He has not called and given blessings to those He has called. Some may stop and think this is unfair to the other people, that they deserve a place to live also. Well, to that I can tell you this, He is the creator of all things therefore He is the owner and provider of all things and He is the judge of who gets what. If it is God's decision to revoke blessings given to people who now spit upon His Holy Name and who war against His holy people, His chosen ones then sorry but He is not like the Obama Administration, He will not fund the "other side" and allow them to rule unjustly over His chosen people. If they want to make war on His Holy People then they can do it on their own land with their own food and their own houses....oh...wait....they never created anything for themselves because in order to do that they would have first had to make the Dirt that from that dirt was formed all matter of living things on the earth. Sounds like ownership trumps being fair, God is fair, if they can make their own stuff then they can have at it and they can spit on His name "from over there" but if they cannot create life on their own, make a their own planet to live on...oh....wait...that would require having their own solar system too....oh boy this stuff is getting complicated and complex. Well, we will leave it there.

Oswald makes a point that for those who do trust in God and His mighty works in their own particular lives, those who without a doubt can point to a significant time when all seemed lost but almost overnight the tide turned and they give all credit to Almighty God, for them they have a reason to believe in God's ability to move mountains. The mountains in our lives and the mountains that seem to block our way of life. Oswald states that those who draw from their confidence in God through easy times will also draw from the same well of confidence during the most stressful times and it is then that others will seek them out because of their steadfast confident composure. Allow that steadfastness to make a home in you today. May your calmness of spirit be evident for others that do not seek the supplier of confidence. We can have times of worry too but as believers we do not let worry overtake us every hour of the day, we choose to remain before Him and trust that as He has done mighty and glorious things in the past, so shall He do more great things to come.

Peace to you.

Lou

August 12th.
	THE THEOLOGY OF REST
"Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith?" Matthew 8:26 When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Our trust is in God up to a certain point, then we go back to the elementary panic prayers of those who do not know God. We get to our wits' end, showing that we have not the slightest confidence in Him and His government of the world; He seems to be asleep, and we see nothing but breakers ahead. "0 ye of little faith!" What a pang must have shot through the disciples - 'Missed it again!' And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced down right joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead. There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him. We have been talking a great deal about sanctification - what is it all going to amount to? It should work out into rest in God which means oneness with God, a oneness which will make us not only blameless in His sight, but a deep joy to Him.

Daily Mass readings: http://www.dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=readings&localdate=20110812

 

May you have a Jesus filled day

He made himself poor....

Today I share a small part of the writings of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church. I post it because in a few words she says so much.

Hidden treasure

The spouse of the Canticles says that... she arose to look for her Beloved in the city, but in vain; after having gone out of the city, she found him whom her soul loved! (Sg. 3,1-4).  Jesus does not will that we find his adorable presence in repose; He hides Himself... Oh! what a melody for me  is this silence of Jesus. He made Himself poor that we might  be able to give Him love. He holds out His hand to us like a beggar so that on the radiant day of judgment when He will appear glory, He may have us hear those sweet words: "Come, blessed of my Father, for I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I did not know where to lodge, and you gave me a home; I was in prison, sick, and you helped me,» (Mt 25,34-36). It was Jesus Himself who spoke these words; it is He who wants our love, who begs for it. He places Himself, so to speak, at our mercy; He does not want to take anything unless we give it to Him...

Jesus is a hidden treasure, an inestimable good which few find, for it is hidden, and the world loves what sparkles. Ah! if Jesus had willed to show Himself to all souls with His ineffable gifts, no doubt there is not one of them that would have despised Him. However, He does not will that we love Him for His gifts, He Himself must be our reward.

To find a hidden thing one must hide oneself; our life must then be a mystery. We must be like Jesus, whose face was hidden,» (Is 53,3)... Jesus loves you with a love so great that, if you to see it, you would be in an ecstasy of happiness... but you do not see it, and you are suffering. Soon, Jesus «will stand up to save all the meek and humble of the earth!» (Ps 76[75], 10).

What stood out for me was the sentence.."He made himself poor so that we might love him."

Isn't it just like Jesus to do that, to make Himself approachable for all? Think about it for a few minutes of your time. When we read about the world's wealthy we say to ourselves that they have everything, they lack for nothing. It was not any different in the time of Jesus on this earth, the very poor saw the rich and said the same thing to themselves. Jesus knew that he would be despised and shunned if he came looking like a wealthy socialite but instead He wanted to be able to reach the furthest into the sea of humanity and at least have a chance of someone accepting Him just as a person, someone sitting on the other end of that park bench, someone you would open up to and tell what is burdening your heart. Jesus wants us to care for Him and accept Him for Himself, not for what He may or may not do for us (isn't that exactly what we want too...acceptance).  Please ponder on this and let Him know how you feel about this, that He threw off all remnant of His position as creator and King to be born in a feeding trough. He did not do it to fool us or make a mockery of how we live, He did it because He wants to live as we live, to love as we love so that we will know that He understands us and why we do the things we do. He did it all for us, you and me.

Slaves Are Issued Weapons; Free People Own Them

The excerpt below is from a very good article posted on the American Thinker and written by William A. Levinson. It gives a very good and detailed overview of how ownership of weapons versus being issued a weapon are very different and how the former points toward an individual's accepted sovereignty while a slave or servant is issued a weapon with the intention that it would be later returned and the slave would return to their rank and file.

"We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects."


http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/slaves_are_issued_weapons_free_people_own_them.html


This statement relates to Queen Elizabeth I as she responded to threats of being apprehended by armed guards.


Please read over and share this article. The concept of owning a firearm or some sort of means of self defense as well as a tool for food gathering is what seperates a free person from a servant. Throughout Holy Scripture I have never found a place where God clearly came out and said that as His children we are to never be armed. I have not found a place where God said it was a commandment to walk the earth leaving ourselves at the mercy of armed opponents. I have on the other hand read where God has said it is a sin to commit murder, a cold-blooded, calculated plan to bring another person to their demise. One instance that stands out for me is in Genesis where Moses sees an Egyptian guard beating a Hebrew. Moses looked for someone to come along and stop the abuse and possible death of this man but there was no one else around. Out of compassion for the slave, Moses found something for a weapon and struck the guard thus killing him as a result. Did Moses set out that morning to kill an Egyptian? We are not told that but at the same time it does not fit his character and behavior. Also, I noticed that God never spoke to Moses about the killing, God said nothing and in fact summoned Moses to His presence. When Moses arrived God did not say anything like, "Moses why are you covered with the blood of another?" God did not chastise Moses for what Moses did clearly in self defense of the slave. I am not saying that God did not care that a man was dead but I am saying that a man was being beaten to death and Moses sought to stop the beating in the only way he had at his disposal and the death of the guard was an unfortunate outcome but Moses only sought mercy on the slave.


We too can have it in mind that life is precious and is a gift from God and that what is formed by God, given by God and blessed by God is something to cherish. You my friend, who are reading this and wondering what I am trying to justify, I am not trying to justify but rather posing the argument that you are preciously made in God's sight and like each and every creation of God's hand is to be cherished and honored because it is a creation of God's own hand. This is where we see each of us has an intrinsic value to our life. People, including myself, at one time or another will ask the big question, "why am I here and what is my life's purpose?" It has come to me over years of seeking the answer that I am here out of God's good pleasure and my purpose is to live, love, grow and experience life as God intended so that I will feel free to express myself and show the world what sort of creation God made when He formed me. Will the world accept me? Will the world put out the red carpet for me? Hasn't happened yet but who knows, what I do know is that God makes wondrous and beautiful things and the same is said of what He forms out of the mud and breathes into their nostrils. I am going far and wide with this because life is treated so cheaply these days and for some, when they say that others should not be allowed to carry weapons, should not be allowed to raise a defense against hostility but that my wife or myself should allow ourselves to be abused or even killed so that violence will stop with me and not go on further, my spirit screams out that I am Holy made and I am Holy inspired and therefore the world needs me. The world needs Holy inspired people of all walks of life and all cultures and societies because we can be a reflection of God's love in this world. If you want to change the world you can start right where you are by being all that God intends for you to be. When you are doing that you will truly be a mirror of God 's love in your part of the world.


You will be like a precious pearl or a gift of great price that is worth piles of gold and tons if silver because you present the spirit of life to the dying in this world. You are not cheap my friend and you are not easily replaced by another face or another name, don't lose sight of your worth and protect what God is doing in your heart and life. Defense of your life is defending a creation of God. It is about defense and you have a right to it.

A very sad thing happened to a very close friend of mine today

Today, if you haven't seen much of the news as I have and poking around on the Internet you might have come across the sad news. A much beloved and respected friend has left us and it's not because of sickness or that He had found something better to do, it was more of that He wasn't wanted anymore. Have any of you known a friend, relative, coworker who for some reason people just stopped liking? That to invite them to lunch would somehow alienate you from the click or if you gave them a ride home in your car people would tease you all the next day because you did a kind gesture to that person?

This friend is someone that I have personally known since 1994 and at times was hard to call them my friend but when the truth needed to be known I could not and will not tell a lie. I know I have had disagreements and at times argued but I never asked my friend to leave and I would never drive by and leave Him standing on the side of the road without stopping and giving Him a ride. But today, my friend, someone I've known for nearly two decades was told they must leave, that their presence was not only no longer desired but actually had become offensive. Have you ever experienced the pain of being told to your face that you are not wanted? If so, the pain never goes away from that and the memory stays fresh always. You know what it is that I refer to, that kind of pain that can cut deep and leaves a scar that never fades with time. My friend was told recently they were never to be referred to again and the funny thing is, my friend is what makes our group! Who is the friend you wonder, if invited, would they like to come to your church this Sunday? The answer to that question is simple, my friend would love to come to your church or any church where people would not be ashamed to say His name out loud. My friend loves to be around people and loves to laugh with them and share their family stories, my friend is someone whom you can go to the movies with or even share your deepest secrets with and have no fear He would talk about you behind your back because He knows how that feels and would never think to inflict that level of pain on anyone. My friend.........is Jesus, the Christ and today it was announced in many newspapers country-wide that Campus Crusade for Christ founded by Bill Bright nearly sixty years ago has decided to remove the name of Christ from its title. The reason they state is because in many countries the name, "Christ", is at times offensive to people and has a tendency to turn people away from hearing the gospel, according to Campus Crusade for Christ, now called "Cru."

Read about it here:
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-07-19/features/os-campus-crusade-name-change-20110719_1_campus-crusade-steve-douglass-ministry

When I first heard and read about this I was intensely angry that a ministry founded on Christ and His love for all the world would now turn around and remove the name of Christ for which is their whole purpose of being and would rather go the way of the politically correct and preach about Jesus but not talk about Him or mention His name. My question; how will they spread the good news of the gospel and not say for what or whom the gospel is about? If Christ Jesus cannot be mentioned in the title of the ministry then who is it that bled and died for expiation of our sins? My anger is now righteous indignation, they done ticked off the wrong foot soldier of Christ.

1 John chapter 4 - New American Standard Version - Verses 7 - 14

God Is Love

 ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is ^[a]born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested ^[b]in us, that God has sent His ^[c]only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

If you find these words unfamiliar at all I encourage you to use Google for something worth while and look up First John and read through the book, it's only five or so pages and about five chapters. Tiny book but this Apostle of "Christ" (oh, oops, did not mean to offend) has truth to be told not only about Christ Jesus but also about His true followers and truth about those who do not follow. It has been two years or so since the passing of Bill Bright and just like Wal-Mart, when the ole' man is dead and buried and enough dust has settled the place goes corporate. Sam Walton believed in his image of his company because he believed in people, his philosophy was to operate the company from the bottom up. The workers on the floor are the ambassadors of Wal-Mart to the customers, the mid-level managers served the floor workers to enable them to better serve the customer and so on up the ladder of structure. When the ole' man was dead and gone after two years the kids took over and the place is now nothing like what Same built, it is nothing more than an outlet for the country of China and instead of building up America selling American made products and helping employ Americans, they go for the cheap buck, the cheap product and gross market share.

In the same way, Campus Crusade for Christ has left the template for success constructed by Bill Bright through the empowerment and blessing of the Holy Spirit of God and is now going for market share of the soul. Anyone, anyone who looks upon the Cross of Christ can either be spellbound by the suffering servant who hangs there for all eternity as a wordless sign that all is well, all is forgiven, all are welcome in my Father's house...or they will be repulsed by His nakedness and will turn their backs on Him with disgust. Happy to speak of the benefits of belonging but never to utter what price was paid for enrollment.

Please listen to Glenn Beck on his web page as he speaks about this issue;http://www.glennbeck.com/2011/07/21/campus-crusade-for-christ-drops-chris-from-the-title/

Go to the page through the link and click on the video, it will start after the commercial but for Christian and non-Christian alike a single issue stands out. "Cru", who are they and what do they want with anyone?
A ministry without a purpose is like a clanging symbol or chiming gong, making lots of noise for no reason at all.

Lou.

Woe to me if I should prove myself

but a halfhearted soldier

in the service of

my thorn-crowned Captain.

Saint Fidelis of Sigmarigen

Agenda 21 White House Rural Council 13575

I ask you to please take the time and Google "13575" and look for this link which will give you a pdf file of the executive order Obama signed into law back on June 9th. This is the White House Rural Council, it will only take you two or three minutes to read the three page order. Please read through it carefully, this new law is about redistribution of property, food crops, natural resources and so on. Everything this man has done to date has not been for the betterment of America but in the exact opposite.  Obama signs executive order 13575

Why do I tell you about this? Because we all need to wake up our neighbors and realize that our country is being hijacked. The things at risk are the farm land areas of this country and without their food production our supplies are solely coming from outside the United States. Just as oil is in jeopardy so is food. Please Google the phrase "Agenda 21" and read what it is about. There are plenty of tin foil hat sites but there are also credible ones as well. This is a real deal, something the United Nations is doing for real in other countries and they have been waiting for the United States. Please become informed, please do not lie down and allow them to strip you and your family of the right to exist and to have a home and a future because in keeping in line with Agenda 21, as the government establishes more parts of it into everyday federal operations, the more they will decide where you and I will live, in what kind of house and in what part of town. Please do not say this will not happen it will only prove more concretely that you do not pay attention to things in this world. While Jesus tells us not to be "part" of the world we still live here until something big changes and as for the rapture, I refer you to the line in the gospel of Acts where the disciples are standing in awe and watching Jesus lift up from their sight and rise into heaven. The angel turns to them and says, "what are you standing there for?" Book of Acts chapter 1: 11.  Acts 1:11

It is not for us to pine away thinking of what might come and when it might happen, we are to be found busy when the Lord comes. Be awake, be alert, do not hide away from what is happening because this is all part of the return of Christ Jesus. We all pray every day for this to happen. You ask how or when? Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. How else do you think you establish a kingdom? You must first defeat the ruler of this kingdom, the devil. Does the book of Revelation tell us that one day we will wake up and like a dream all things will be made new? No! The book of Revelation tells us in the chapters that there will be trial and tribulation for the church and for all the world, as to the "when," that part where we get lifted up into heaven and away from the trial and tribulation isn't exactly stated. If it were, there would not be three different theories about when or how the rapture will come, we would know. No man knows the day nor the hour as told to us by the Son of God Himself, only the Father knows, why do we try to out think Him? He told us to go out and make disciples, yes. He told us to love one another, yes. He told us to forgive and heal one another yes. He reminded us that we are to love the Lord our God will all our heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Well then, how is loving our neighbor shown in the attitude of sloth and disbelief? Why not be prepared? It's to much money, it's too much time, it's too much thinking...oh my poor head!

"I won't tell my neighbors that the Lord is coming back soon because they will laugh at me, Yep, they will but that doesn't mean you were lying, it just means they are blinded by the devil and he has their hearts feeling despair and unbelief in the Living Son of God. What about Noah? It was OK for him to be known as a crack pot but not you! Joseph stored grain for seven years because of a message given to him by Almighty God, don't you think the Egyptians thought he was nuts? Don't you think he may have limited supplies to the people just so he could put back extra for the time of the famine? Is your faith worth taking a risk for? Is your faith something worth being laughed at for? Is your family worth you risking damage to your image for? It's not about not having faith in the power of God, just the opposite is true, it is showing true blind faith in the word of the Lord and acting upon it. Jesus said in the last days natural disasters would happen, wars and rumors of wars and the Lord our God would be mocked and ridiculed.

Maybe this isn't the time but don't you want to act on the evidence? What else is Jesus supposed to do for you to believe and act? Tell Him, maybe He will answer and give you the evidence you require in order to live out your faith.  video about 13575

Lou.

 

May you have a Jesus filled day

One Second After - William Forstchen, Author

One Second After, written by William Forstchen is a great book. There is always debate as to whether events of an electro-magnetic pulse would follow in the time line he suggests. Many sidewalk experts who have never been through such an event tell us (or try to) that things would or would not progress according to his suggested time line, blah..blah..blah.  I don't care about his time line and I don't care about the amount of chaos that would begin only a week into the event. Bottom line is, when people have lost everything they have nothing left to loose. The book itself gives a good overall view of just how society in the United States can and will be devastated by the loss of our electronic gizmos and gadgets. As he points out, people who live in the mountains are usually no more prepared for disaster than city folk and city folk always think mountain folk know how to live off the land, only thing is the mountain folk have been spoiled by grocery stores just like you and I have. Please consider purchasing his book either in paper back or in audio format like I did. The book on audio was easy for me to listen to on the way to work and home and it took me two weeks to get through it only because the problems and events he points out are the type to hit very close to home.

Get the book and read it as if you needed a cold slap in the face to get your butt in gear and get prepping!
Here are links to a talk he gave this past weekend in North Carolina, it is in four parts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nJJyiiuLRc&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBF7fFpz1CY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZVRwutDyAQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIppfw_o0dE&feature=related

Get Ready!

Nebraska Nuke Plant in Danger of Flooding

If you know people in Nebraska or along the Missouri River please pass this information along to them.

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There is a nuclear power plant in critical danger of being a repeat of Fukushima in the fact that the plant is close to being inundated by flood waters from the Missouri river. I will post a video and a news story link here:

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfGw9ULcLGM

story: http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/06/midwest-floods-both-nebraska-nuke-stations-threatened/

same story carried on other blogs such as this one:
http://2012indyinfo.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/midwest-floods-both-nebraska-nuke-stations-threatened-the-2012-scenario/

The articles do point out that this is a strong area for growing corn and this loss of crops will certainly spike gasoline prices since our highly intelligent and hugely resourceful Congress along with President Bush and now Obama believe it is more intelligent to put corn into our gas tanks instead of on our dinner plates. If you have stock in food commodities and especially corn I would say you are in line for a large win fall in dividends in the coming crop year.

For the rest of us this is not good and what is worse is that very very little is being shown to us via television news outside of Nebraska and I have read that some residents as of yesterday had no clue this was happening in their own state. The opportunity for the nuclear plant to be overcome with flood waters and the nuclear waste spread out into the farm land is great. You allow your informed, intelligent thinking to take it from there. I thought people should know in case they do not. If you know friends, relatives who live in Nebraska but have no knowledge of this happening, you may want to ask them to telephone their local news stations and ask why?

Are You Talking Politics in Your Churches?

question... are you all talking politics in your churches..?? need to..

 I POSTED THIS QUESTION YESTERDAY........ HERE ARE SOME RESPONCES    Woody Pendleton: MANY PASTORS WILL NOT BE WILLING TO TALK POLITICS IN THE CHURCH. MANY PASTORS HAVE ALREADY BEEN CONSCRIPTED BY FEMA TO HELP PLACATE THEIR CONGREGATIONS IN THE EVENT OF ...

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 This question was posted on a FB post and this is my response to that post. I thought it made an excellent question for discussion and thought...

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I am a practicing Roman Catholic. The priests will not talk politics from the pulpit. I have seen some of the older ones talk about biblical principles and will talk only a little about aligning our biblical view with the political view of today. If preachers and pastors had preached as they ought, we would not have a communist marxist in the white house. I do believe that liberals have infused themselves into today's seminaries. Anymore, just because a guy says he believes in Jesus and wants to preach the good news, that doesn't mean that he believes in the same Jesus you do or actually believes the Word of God as it is printed. They do not all pray for insight into God's word from the Holy Spirit. They can talk the talk and answer all the right buzz questions like Rick Warren but it doesn't mean they are all good guys. People will say that according to the Word of God these men were called to be pastors and therefore we are to heed them, listen to their interpretations and come under their shepherding in accordance with Romans chapter 13. I too want to live my life in accordance with Romans 13 but not at the risk of throwing away all other commands of the Bible, I will not submit myself to a pastor or preacher who makes up their own interpretation that is in direct conflict with Jesus.

Priests and Pastors of all walks of faith speak about turning the other cheek but speak little about guarding your house from the thief in the night. They will speak about becoming docile and helpless as a lamb as Jesus was before Pilot but will not acknowledge that Peter and the disciples all carried swords and Jesus never chastised them for doing so, only pointed out that such items have their particular place and use. Jesus came in accordance with prophecy and died in accordance with prophecy. He came to fulfill the law, the law of penitence and payment for sins. He fulfilled the letter of the Law of God by offering himself as payment for sins of the whole world John 3:16-19. He never once told his followers to lay down their life and die exactly as he did. He only told Peter that when the time came he would go where he did not want to and be told to do want he did not want to and Jesus told him, "Follow me." But he also told Peter to feed my lambs, watch my sheep, feed my lambs. Jesus was and is the First Sheep Dog and no one gets by him to harm the sheep and not one will slip from his grasp to be lost forever. 

What Jesus did for us and the entire world he did to protect us, to save us, to open a way for re-connecting with us because He made us and He loves us. He is our protector, our Father and our friend. He said his way is the narrow path and not many are able to travel it and that He is the gate by which all would pass through, that He sleeps at the entrance in order to protect the sheep. All this speaks of defiant love, defiant in the face of true, pure evil. That is what we are to do, not let evil have its way with this world because God the Father created this world and to hand it over to the devil is like throwing away a precious pearl of great worth. If pastors and priests tell us to become docile and lay soft and quiet for the jack booted thugs to take us over like sheep to the slaughter then for me I am sorry but I'm not built that way and Jesus knew it when he formed me in the palm of His hand. Jesus was no sheep, he went where he willed, lived as a free man whose heart is one with God and he did not just die, he spoke to His father and said it was finished, and took his last breath and died. He called the time, he called the place and he chose to spend out the last hours of his life as he willed, that is not the person of a sheep that is the person of a radical, a revolutionary and a conqueror. 

$50.00 Medical Kit - Patriot Nurse - Youtube

Hello and good morning, I would like to introduce you to Patriot Nurse, she is a real, honest to goodness licensed nurse and she has put out some videos on such things as basic medical needs in a S.H.T.F scenario. She also has a video or two on woman's needs during a S.H.T.F scenario and it doesn't have to be an armed assault scenario it can be something small and localized such as sick and unable to make it to the doctor and drug store. I know my wife and I had some of those times when on vacation, we could have used what Patriot Nurse suggests. It would have relieved symptoms quickly and saved us a $65.00 doctor visit (he was not on our medical insurance plan) and behind the counter prescriptions that were almost as much. She does have some small note tabs on her videos, please pay attention to them as they were added to her videos after taping. The link I give first is for a $50.00 medical kit and it may surprise you what she has in it but her reasoning does make very good and very practical sense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLwI9PSAdy0&feature=channel_video_title

This link is for her more advanced medical kit which will ratchet your costs upward toward $100.00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3qLk9VXMr0&feature=relmfu

This could sound a bit expensive at first but please consider one office visit and trip to the pharmacy. What she has for supplies will help treat many individuals and you will cover most superficial problems at the onset rather than letting the problem grow and now the person is very ill and will take much more meds and professional care to see them through.  There is a part 2 of her advanced medical kit so please click on the link following and proceed to the second half. Please stop the video when you are interrupted and please stop, rewind and play when needed and take notes (the glory of Youtube!)

Please listen as she explains in these videos that illness and disease can begin simply by not having clean drinking water and not having sanitary waste facilities. We have to eat clean and be clean and we can get through pretty much anything. A simple cold can lead to pneumonia and respiratory arrest and death when simple steps (for our culture) are not taken at the onset with simple things like pepto-bismal or a 325 Mg. aspirin. Items like these that we take so much for granted in our culture are considered miracle drugs in poor countries. Here we can even use coupons to acquire much of these items at little to no cost while in other countries people pay with their lives for lack of them. I do not wish to begin a theological debate as to why that is but for now God has made a way for you to put back items that can keep your family relatively healthy without calling up the doctor every time someone gets a booboo. I agree with her explanation that dirty drinking water and poor sanitation kills. My evidence points to events from the civil war where soldiers on both sides suffered infection to wounds and lost limbs because of not having clean water and bandages. In Andersonville prison thousands of men died because of dysentery and diarrhea, they were not allowed to have latrines outside the prison walls and they could only dig holes inside the prison which was a four sided fort. The living conditions where anything but living conditions and men suffered and died because of filth from human waste and dirty water. The same kind of conditions kill the very young, the weak and the aged every year in every country. I like using fishing tackle boxes for many things like plumbing repair kit boxes, tool boxes and for medical kit boxes. They usually have partitions and multiple drawers or trays where you can separate item types and their purpose. I found a great fishing tackle box at the Good Will store for $5.00. When I picked it up I noticed it was missing many of the dividers but did not see that as a reason to overlook it, I knew this was a forty or fifty dollar box and it was going to do me a lot of good. When I got home I sat down on the floor with a Cheerios cereal box and a pair of scissors and began cutting out dividers. It took me about forty minutes with stops in between and I was done and my $5.00 box was ready to give me years of service. Check out yard sales and garage sales too, you can find many items that can be "re-purposed" for a prepper.

Have the ability to filter your water without electricity whether it be a Berkey filter, or Lifesaver bottle (found on Amazon) or some other filtration system to where it will filter out bacteria and viruses. In a time of power outage it can be hours or days or weeks before electricity is restored, if for some reason you have to leave home do you have some form of filtration you can bring with you, is it portable, does it need electricity, if you have to scoop up ditch water and pour it through the filter will that work to give you clean water? It's not so much your equipment brand but rather if you are reduced to primitive living conditions can you still maintain the integrity level of your drinking water and how much can you filter?  Will you need to purchase extra filters now to have with you later?

Toilet paper, what would you do if you only had one roll to your name? Can you use one piece of t.p if necessary to get the job done? What about boiling used rags in case of no toilet paper? What about that time of the month, do you have supplies to cover that if you needed to bug out? It is part of sanitary living and it does need to be recognized and addressed. I am linking to another video about how to use one sheet of t.p. to clean yourself if need be. I tried to find a video that wasn't going to be crude and only partly succeeded so please do not be offended, it is all about technique and not about social crudeness. This skill could come in handy at any time you find yourself with the end of the role and no extra anywhere in sight, maybe camping or at a restaurant, it doesn't matter but the idea is to do with less until your time of abundance comes back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XEN3nDUlBU

I think that is all for now, remember, it doesn't have to cost you a lot of money to be self reliant but it will cost you a great amount when you have done nothing.

"Dying Is Not An Option"

Dying Is Not An Option is a book written and sold by Cope Reynolds, owner of Southwest Shooting Authority in Luna, New Mexico. I personally have more than one copy and have given some out to friends. This is a well put together book with a spiral spine so the pages can be flipped by one hand if need be and laid down on any surface and the pages will stay open. This could be critical if you are wounded and trying to retrieve the information from the book and only have the use of one hand. The cost of the book is $19.95 plus shipping and handling. I would also suggest his information on how to make Colloidal Silver, a very helpful agent to fight against bacteria and speed healing to minor wounds and possibly more. Please also look over his information posted on the left column of the page, especially Survival Firearms and Disaster Preparedness. To find the book you can click here: http://www.mcssl.com/store/south-west-shooting-authority/publications 

Did They Know They Were Fighting For Socialism?

Someone posted the question; Do you think soldiers from past wars knew they were fighting for socialism.
To that question I say this;

I don't believe any of them had socialism in mind, maybe some of them couldn't even conceive of what socialism was being they were raised in a Judeo-Christian society, prayed not only in church but also in the class room. What those men and women witnessed in Europe was nothing like what they knew. I knew a man who served in three wars, the latter end of WWII, Korean War and 1 tour of Vietnam. He said in boot camp for WWII they were shown films of Hitler and how he commanded his troops. One film was in his office in Berlin and he summoned a troop soldier forward and barked at him in German and pointed to the balcony. Next thing everyone knew the troop soldier took a running charge at the balcony and dove head first right off and down to his death. The American leadership stated that the soldiers were brainwashed and would now follow Hitler's orders no matter what was asked of them, even if commanded to kill themself on the spot. This was almost as bad as a religious war in that the enemy was taught not to think or value themselves but to give themselves over to the leader completely. A Christian gives themself over to God and puts their trust in God completely, only difference is God does not command us to not think or feel or kill ourselves on command. God tells us in His word to value life, especially our own as well as others.

Life in Europe with Hitler, Mousalini and Stalin was something only known about in books because most Americans of that war only knew their home town, their county. How does a soldier see the ravages of men who command others to die only for the sole purpose of power and rationalize it? I do not believe anyone of them grasped what they saw but knew that life at home was full of goodness and light. Home was a place where Mom and Dad stuck it out together, worked side by side and raised their family in the best way they knew how. Home was the place where a man could put down roots, raise a family and have a life filled with honor and respect, it was all within the American man's grasp and there was no dictator in charge of America to take it away. Men and women of that era came back with humility in their heart and did not speak of what they saw because it was the most vile of treatment one human being could inflict on another. It was a place and time devoid of the fear of God and man struck out to tear and slash human flesh. To burn people alive and rape children and women for sport. The dark side of being human had been unleashed and some came back doubting their being accepted into God's kingdom for the acts they had committed in the name of war.

When they came home they thought there could never be another war because of what had taken place. That surely all the world had witnessed the ravages of war and all would remember from that time forward and there would be no reason to recall the battles and the midnight bombing raids, the children and adults left alive after the dropping of the bomb on Japan. Dictators had been defeated and the breath of freedom inhaled for the first time in years and exhaled with a sigh of exhaustion. They fought to keep that evil from making the shores of their home, the place where mom still makes the family's favorite deserts, the place where their church is where their family attended for years and maybe they were married to their high school sweetheart. They were coming home to their slice of heaven, they had already seen hell and knew that it was all uphill from there. What has happened to our country has been on our hands and that of the people of the sixties, like it or not. The communists who were sold the bill of goods that people could "rule" over people and it would be a fair system were so high on dope that they still have flashbacks today and still believe this country can survive without law and without graft and corruption because they see those things only existing within government. If they become the government then they would set all the people free but that's just it, we won't be free. They will destroy our laws and destroy our way of life because of their misguided life that they have chosen. They have worked the political system and now they are in charge and they still think Karl Marx has a good idea. They are brain dead and need to be put out of our misery. The patriots of WWII only fought to save THEIR home from being destroyed, now it is our turn.