Happy Thanksgiving

1Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
² But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
³ But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
⁴ In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
⁵ For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
⁶ For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
⁸ We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
⁹ Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
¹⁰ Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
¹¹ For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
¹² So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
¹³ We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
¹⁴ Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
¹⁵ For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
¹⁶ For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." ~ 2 Cor 4

Winds of Secession?

Update 11/13/12: Here is a list with total signatures of the states that currently have petitions to secede at whitehouse.gov. As you can see, there are a few states that have more than one petition. Interesting.

1. Alabama - 16,255
2. Alaska - 601
3. Arizona - 9,281
4. Arkansas - 12,186
5. California - #1- 12; #2- 3,561
6. Colorado - 12,395
7. Delaware - 3,393
8. Florida - 17,368
9. Georgia - #1-16,201; #2-8,555
10. Indiana - 10,969
11. Kansas - 736
12. Kentucky - 10,710
13. Louisiana - 25,465
14. Michigan - 11,168
15. Mississippi - 10,884
16. Missouri - #1-10,417; #2-9,077 #3-10,336
17. Montana - 8,744
18. Nevada - 4,617
19. New Jersey - 8,520
20. New York - #1-10,129; #2-2,691
21. North Carolina - 15,195
22. North Dakota - 7,837
23. Ohio - 3,352
24. Oklahoma - #1-1,643;#2-9,273
25. Oregon - 9,101
26. Pennsylvania - 5,986
27. South Carolina - #1-9,761; #2-12,758
28. Tennessee - 15,927
29. Texas - 57,276
30. Utah - 2,305
31. Wyoming - 2,375

And of course this list would be unfair if I didn't include a link to this petition: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/strip-citizenship-everyone-who-signed-petition-secede-and-exile-them/ZbMjcwPf
. Please note that the numbers had changed by the time I went back to double check them-usually by about 200+ signatures and Kansas appeared while I was making this list at 1:00am. I think anyone may sign any petition so I assume that there are some folks who are signing them all. Makes this a right mess to figure out. Still interesting. As with any document, be sure you read it before you sign it.

In the aftermath of the "election", some are choosing to play by the rules, in apparent denial of the fact that those whom they are opposing have thrown out the rule-book altogether, by demanding recounts and etc. It didn't work for those who opposed Saddam Hussein and I suspect it won't work in America either. It is the state of denial that insists that if we play nice, so will they. Reality is about to bite hard, but I wish them luck ...and a swift awakening to reality that isn't too painful.

Some folks are doing something a bit different. As of this writing, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, New York, Colorado,and North Carolina all have petitions at whitehouse.gov peacefully requesting secession. Now, this is not as official as it sounds, since anyone may start their own petition at the site and when it reaches 30,000 signatures, then the petition is bumped up to the next level bureaucrat who decides whether or not it will be ignored. I would guess that no matter how many signatures are gathered, these will be ignored unless this administration decides they can be used against us in some way. 

In point of fact the fellow who started the North Carolina petition, has people commenting on his blog that they would sign in a heartbeat, but for the fact that they don't want to put their name to anything that might drawn the negative attention of this administration. And that's the problem right there, isn't it? If they felt free enough to sign those petitions, there would be no need for them. That they feel too threatened by this administration to even sign such a thing is indicative of the tyranny with which this administration has been credited. I suspect it will get much worse before it gets better.    

 The entire premise of this nation, up to the Civil War was that the United States were united by their agreement to be so. The U. S. Constitution is the contract by which the states agreed to be united, which is why it is a list of restrictions on what the federal level of the government may do rather than a grant of authority to do whatever it thinks necessary. The states didn't want a high handed federal government telling them what they could and could not do - that was the bailiwick of the citizens of those states.

Many (mostly those who favor the out of control, micromanaging, spendthrift nanny state we currently suffer) will argue that the civil war ended state sovereignty. Others will argue that state sovereignty is no more negotiable that one's right to control what one eats or drinks, it is self evident and therefore unalienable.(Mrs. obama may have tried to force those kids to eat healthy, but they refused to eat her choices for them and went hungry instead - see the parallel to freedom there?) 

They have 30 days from their posting to get those signatures. What will be done if they get them? Hard to tell. I suspect this administration will, as they have done in so many other areas, simply ignore them. That's not the question. The question is what will the people do?

Update 11/11/12: As of this writing, 14 more states have added their petitions to the milieu. California, Missouri (Actually there are two petitions from Missouri), Tennessee, Michigan, South Carolina, Oregon, New Jersey, Indiana, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi , Montana, North Dakota, Apparently the petition for the secession of New York was filed by someone in North Dakota. Why? Who knows, but any number of reasons spring to mind from humor to cutting out the UN heart of this tyrannical administration. Keep up on new petitions here. Be aware that in order to sign the petitions there, one must have a whitehouse.gov account

"The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.
 A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue."~ Proverbs 17:3-4

Freedom

 "Exactly", said Lord Vetinari. "There is always a choice".
"You mean . . . I could choose certain death?"
"A choice, nevertheless," said Vetinari. "Or, perhaps, an alternative. You see I believe in freedom, Mr. Lipwig. Not many people do, although they will, of course, protest otherwise. And no practical definition of freedom would be completely without the freedom to take the consequences. Indeed, it is the freedom upon which all others are based. ..." ~ Terry Pratchett in "Going Postal"

Elections have consequences. Will we retain America, or will it be "fundamentally transformed"? It's our choice. Be informed if you plan to vote. Don't vote without knowing the consequences of the choice you are making for yourself and your posterity. It's your duty to be an informed voter, not a team player.

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" ~ Isaiah 5:20

Business First Aid

Need a break from the heart wrenching news of the day? Looking for something to give you a positive outlook for the future? 

Join our guest, Josh Tolley on the radio show(blue link on the sidebar or go here. ) today to find out how you can make your business better. Because "free enterprise is the fuel for freedom."

"Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men. "~ Proverbs 22:29

Standing Down

 I am so deeply grieved by this villainous administration's treatment of American citizens at Benghazi that I find all the election nonsense to be too much for me. 

I keep thinking of the ramifications spreading ever outward from that epicenter and I am am overwhelmed by the perfidy, the treason and the out and out murderousness of these people. 

The harm this has done and continues to do to our military concerns me greatly. Our fellow citizens did not sign up to be ordered to sit on their hands when their fellow citizens are being killed. The harm it will do to those who may vote for him unawares, thanks to what appears to be a msm blackout. (Although they certainly had fair warning of his character from his votes on the born alive bills didn't they?)The rifts in families and communities between those who have an ounce of simple human decency and those who are so morally bankrupt that they will ascribe this all to politics and never you mind that someone died. Appalling.

How will I be able to sit at the same table over the holidays as people who voted for this festering sore on the face of America? I can't think of it. It pains me, and yet I must think of it if only to bear witness. 

My nation is a nation that values individual rights BECAUSE we recognize the intrinsic value of every life and this whited sepulcher has just demonstrated to the entire world that he cares no more for a single American life than what he thinks it can bring him politically and his minions scramble to do the same. 

I am devastated that the entire nation has not risen to demand his removal, as have I and as I will continue to do until he is gone...or until I am. 
And if it does that to me, what must it be doing to our military? Particularly those who were in a position to help but who were told to stand down for HOURS? 

For those who still have the good sense to be Christians, pray as you may never have prayed before because we are going into a darkness such as this nation, nor this world has ever seen and there are very few candles. 

May our military forgive us;

• for failing in our duty to keep this current "government" within it's Constitutional limits;
• for failing to elect people of good character to those positions of authority over them;
• for failing to see that their right to vote is respected;
• for failing to hold those same people accountable for the smallest of breaches of that venerable document and;
• for putting them in a place where they may neither defend themselves nor their fellow citizens, nor speak about it to anyone until they are retired. 

And that said, may the Lord forgive us as well for losing this nation, this gift of freedom, and, most of all for rejecting Him. This is the first election where neither of the two front running candidates are Christians, although both claim to be. How could we have lost our discernment in the short 230 + years since this nation's founding? 

" Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off."~ Psalm 94:20-23

Impeach Now

This is treason. And this.

This is not about politics. This is about treason and EVERY American needs to know this and do their duty by calling their representative and demanding the immediate (meaning now, not after the election)beginning of impeachment proceedings. This is our duty as citizens and has no party.

In addition, in the American philosophy every life is intrinsically valuable. For this man(or anyone) to watch our consulate being attacked via drone, possibly watching our ambassador and 3 other Americans being sodomized and murdered, without calling for ANY support for those Americans, and quite possibly forbidding our military to go to their aid during the 7 HOUR attack, and then go to sleep and lie about the attack later is beyond the boundaries of what is sufferable from even the worst of government officials.

Call your Rep because the House has the responsibility to impeach. Call them now. May God forgive us if we decline to do this thing.

"No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee."

 ~ John Donne

"Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:"~ Exodus 23:2

An Order of Magnitude

That is the phrase used when one wishes to describe a large or significant difference between two things. 
Such as the difference between the current administration's actions regarding the economy and their response to the deliberate attack on our consulate in Libya and the murder of our ambassador and 3 other citizens.

The reason this is appropriate, to say that there is an order of magnitude's difference in those actions, is because the difference is one of such vast import to the American people, that to classify it otherwise would be unthinkable.

An administration may make economic policies that affect thousands, or hundreds of thousands of Americans negatively. In general, we recognize that such things are a matter of suffering through a temporary difference of economic ideologies.  We expect that reality will cause such policies to self correct over time. It is not seen as an indication that those who have been granted authority over those policies despise us or account the individual as being of little intrinsic worth. 

The response of this administration to the deliberate act of war against us and the murder of our citizens is not a matter of differing ideologies that will self correct. This is a matter of declaring to the world  how we, here in America view the value of an individual life. Yes, there are national security and foreign policy concerns attached to this, but the primary purpose our response needs to address is: How do we, as a nation, regard the value of a single human life? In other times, the answer to that question was inseparable from the given response. Devastatingly, that response has changed under this administration. And that is what makes me sick in my very soul.

In my experience of life, America, as a nation has regarded human life in the same way as does the God of the Bible. That is to say; that every human being is intrinsically valuable. The SCOTUS' inappropriate meddling in Roe vs Wade (not to mention their inappropriate ruling-a matter of cowardice) dealt that understanding a severe blow, but it was not a death blow. It was more along the lines of a difficult question regarding the balance between an individual's right to privacy and control of one's own bodily processes and another individual's right to life. (I think that life overrules the other, but clearly, the SCOTUS did not share that opinion.)

This administration's response, to apologize for the exercise of free speech and lament the violence that "wasted the lives of state officials"("or alternatively, because this is a translation of an egyptian source: "wasted lives of agents of the state.") rather than to declare war [until LIBYA surrenders or provides a reason strong enough to prevent us from turning that nation into a glass parking lot (Terrorists did it and we couldn't control them-not believable at this point in the game, but plausible for quelling a declaration of war until the perpetrators were surrendered for judgement)], was a statement to the world and Americans that this administration regards the individual as being of little intrinsic value. The first time I mentioned this statement, I was willing to allow that it might be merely an unfortunate translation. Given the continuing actions of this administration, I no longer think so. 

That is the sickness that gnaws at my soul every time I hear from the government now.

•  A government consisting of: a sitting POTUS and administration that made that heinous statement to the world(in addition to their surrender of America to the islamic world) ;
•  A Congress that does not see fit to impeach the sitting POTUS who would make such a statement (and who also treasonously surrendered and who has committed numerous acts of overt treason against this nation);
• A SCOTUS who will not hear from citizens on legitimate questions of that same POTUS' eligibility to serve, saying that We the People, as individuals, have no standing to see the rule of law upheld.

This cause of that "soul sickness" in ordinary American citizens like myself is what must be addressed before this nation can reclaim it's freedom. 

This is what defines mr. obama as unfit to run a turnip patch, much less America. This is a disregard of common human decency so vast as to boggle the mind. This should have been sufficient for impeachment, but it was not.

Until it is, and until the intrinsic value of every individual is once again recognized in America, the blood of  Ambassador Stevens, Mr. Smith, Mr. Doherty and Mr. Woods will cry out from the ground against an America that allowed freedom to die with them. 

"Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness.

 But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment and justice take hold on thee.

 Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee." ~ Job 36:16-18