Does Prayer Work ?

Common Sense Commentary:  Not that you need any proof of the fact that God hears and answers prayer, but here is another of many scientific studies  that have concluded that it really does help.

Does prayer help us resist temptation? Talking to God boosts self-control and emotional stability, claims study

• People turn to prayer 'as a coping response to the high demands in life' and are rewarded with an increased ability to resist temptation
• Previous findings have shown that when people try to control their emotions, the risk of aggressive outbursts and binge drinking doesn't decrease but rises.

By Robin Yapp
The Daily Mail Online - London U.K.

Praying helps people stay in control of their emotions and behaviour, according to a new study.
People turn to prayer 'as a coping response to the high demands in life' and are rewarded with increased strength and ability to resist temptation, researchers said.
Previous findings have shown that when people try hard to control their emotions and thoughts, the risk of aggressive outbursts and binge drinking or eating rises.
But the latest study, by German psychologists at Saarland University and the University of Mannheim, found that praying helps people maintain self-control.
'A brief period of personal prayer buffered the self-control depletion effect', wrote the team, whose findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology online.


'These results are consistent with and contribute to a growing body of work attesting to the beneficial effects of praying on self-control.'
Praying has already been linked in the past to reduced levels of infidelity and alcohol consumption.
The German authors recruited 79 people, of whom 41 were Christian, 14 atheists, 10 agnostic and 14 belonged to other religions.
Participants were each left alone for five minutes and asked to either pray or think freely about one thing as intensely as possible.
Next they all watched  funny film clips with half told to react normally and half required to try to suppress their emotions and control their facial reactions.
Finally, they took part in Stroop tests, where words describing colours appear in different coloured inks, such as the word blue written in red ink.
Participants must respond to the ink colour, not the written word, which requires self-control as our instinct is to read the word in front of us.
Those who thought freely in the first part of the test and then tried to suppress their emotions during the film clips were found to struggle with the Stroop task.
But this was not the case for participants who prayed at the start of the study - showing they still had high levels of self-control at the end.
The authors also found those who first prayed had tried just as hard to suppress emotions during the film clips 'but did not become depleted'.


BELIEVING IN GOD COULD HELP TREAT DEPRESSION TOO...

Belief in God may improve treatment for those suffering with depression, a study published earlier year found.
Faith in a higher being was found to significantly improve treatment for people suffering with a psychiatric illness, according to research carried out by McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.
Researchers followed 159 patients over the course of a year at the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital program to investigate the relationship between a patient's level of belief in God, expectations for treatment and actual treatment outcomes.
Each participant was asked to gauge their belief in God as well as their expectations for treatment outcome on a five-point scale.
Researchers found that patients with 'no' or only 'slight' belief in God were twice as likely not to respond to treatment than patients with higher levels of belief.
And more than 30 per cent of patients claiming no specific religious affiliation still saw the same benefits in treatment if their belief in God was rated as moderately or very high.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2515637/Does-prayer-help-resist-temptation-Talking-God-boosts-self-control-emotional-stability-claims-study.html#ixzz2m8nby4ea
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Biggest Scam In The History Of Mankind: The Secrets Of Money

Common Sense Commentary:  The link below will take you to the fourth episode of The Secrets Of Money  entitled "The Biggest Scam In the History Of Mankind" with Mike Malony .  This is an educational series which explains, in easy to understand dialog and graphics, how world currencies, Federal Reserve Systems, Multi-national Banks and Politicians have organized the world monetary systems into a global funnel which routes the wealth of the common people's labor into their pockets. Our freedom and the future freedom of our Children and grandchildren depends on the people understanding this diabolical scheme which has been working against us since 1913.  View it in self-defense, if for no other reason. RB


Click here:
http://hiddensecretsofmoney.com/videos/episode-4

Top Question This Week: Will Israel Nuke Iran ?

Common Sense Commentary: You have to put yourself in Netanyahu's place and become responsible for the survival of the entire nation of Israel and every life within it's borders, and be faced with a fanatically religious (Islam), and suicidal enemy who hates Israel with an insane zealot's passion, to even begin to comprehend the possible answer to that question. It is a distinct possibility, but may be done automatically, in retaliation, if they are nuked first. How could that be done? Read on. RB

Will Israel Nuke Iran?

by Joel B. Pollak 27 Nov 2013, Published in Breit Bart  Newsletter         

That's the question Micah Zenko poses at Foreign Policy. It's partly a rhetorical question meant to highlight a perceived double standard in how Israel's nuclear program is treated differently from Iran's--a double standard that isn't really one at all, since Israel is a democratic country and not a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty in any case. But it's also a practical question, because of the low probability that normal air strikes would be enough to destroy Iran's dispersed, secretive, and largely buried nuclear facilities.

The short answer is: probably not. Only a small percentage of the Israeli public would favor such a move, and it would instantly transform Israel into the ultimate pariah state. Israel's current strategy, as far as it is known at the moment, is a second-strike strategy. It is thought to be arming submarines with nuclear warheads that will automatically launch if any attack is detected against Israeli territory, guaranteeing massive retaliation against the source of that attack even if there are no Israelis left to retaliate.
But a longer answer is: possibly, provided that Israel has developed some kind of new nuclear weapons technology that does not actually kill civilians but is targeted to achieve a tactical purpose. For example, it might have developed a bomb that detonates once it reaches a certain depth underground, in order to take out underground facilities such as Fordow. Israel could even have developed an EMP--an electro-magnetic pulse, triggered by a nuclear explosion, that leaves structures intact but wipes out electronics.
These ideas are not just science fiction. The EMP, for example, is considered a potential threat to the U.S. and is something for which American authorities have been working on a defense in case any of our enemies build one. Under this kind of scenario, Israel would still break the taboo of using a nuclear weapon but would avoid much of the destruction that makes such weapons problematic in the first place--while destroying enough of Iran's nuclear program to neutralize it. Still unlikely, but an intriguing possibility.

My Friend Dallas Lambert's Cousin's Monster Turkey Story

Common Sense Commentary: This story was sent to me by Dallas Lambert's wife Sherry. It was a real life experience of Dallas's cousin who lives in Tallahassee, FL. where I was pastor for many years. Dallas and Sherry are exceptional people and were members of our church there. RB

Desperate fight in the Virginia turkey woods


By John Roberts, Dallas Lambert's Cousin
As a Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), I was transferred from my posting aboard the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the office at the Naval Weapons Station, Yorktown, Va., in 1990.
It was there that I became close friends with a fellow NCIS Special Agent, Scott Campbell. Scott was born and reared in Latrobe, Penn., and besides being an outstanding golfer, having worked at Arnold Palmer’s golf course as a caddy, he was an outdoorsman who was a skilled hunter of the Eastern Wild Turkey.
I grew up hunting as a boy in Wakulla County, but because my work required frequent transfers to many posts around the world, I soon abandoned the sport of hunting. Scott changed that as we began hunting turkeys and other game in the woods near Yorktown and Charlottesville, Va.
I will now relate to you readers how I became involved in a desperate fight on the occasion of my first successful turkey hunt.
I will never forget that hunt. In fact, my first gobbler was a “Citation” bird, and the tail feathers and beard are proudly displayed on the wall of my home here in Tallahassee.  The plaque is inscribed, “J.Y. Roberts, 4/17/96 – 22 lbs, Charles City County, Virginia.” The beard, which is attached, is 12 inches long.
That morning I had accompanied Scott and another NCIS Special Agent assigned to the Yorktown office, Dave Dickerson.  We were hunting in the Chickahominy Wildlife Management area in Charles City County, Va., which is about halfway between Yorktown and Richmond.
We entered the woods before daylight and each went into different locations deep in the woods. We always hunted far enough away from each other that we would not interfere if any one of us started calling a turkey into shooting range.
We had scouted the area several times before and knew there were turkeys in those woods. I had settled in to a likely spot just before daylight, and as the sun began to rise, started to use my slate call to mimic the yelp of a hen turkey.
For those of you not accustomed to hunting turkeys, during the spring hunting season, gobblers are looking for hens with whom to mate. It wasn’t long before a gobbler answered my calls and I began working him in toward me. He would come in just out of sight and then stop gobbling. They are wary, smart birds, and will often go silent to try to coax the hen to come to them, or to sneak in watching for any suspicious movement.
This gobbler did this two or three times, and would “drift” away from me each time. He soon quit responding to my calls and remained somewhat distant from me.
He would “shock gobble” to loud crows in the area.  A gobbler will almost always stop and not cross any barrier between him and the hen.
I was not as familiar with my site that morning as I should have been, so since the gobbler was safely some distance from me, I moved toward him and sure enough, found a creek between us. I crossed this creek and set up again, calling him periodically with my slate call.
Sure enough, although he never answered, I caught sight of him coming in my direction. He was too far away and through some thick brush, so I just sat very still, as he knew my position. He seemed to be in the process of circling me, as gobblers will sometimes do, sneak around and come in from behind, so I was alert to that.
After about 15 minutes, I heard a twig snap behind me and to my left.  I quickly swung my gun around and although I did not have a real clear shot, he was in killing range and knowing he had seen me and was about to run or fly, I fired. It was not a clean kill, but the bird was disabled and trying to get away.
Now don’t forget, this was my very first experience at actually shooting a gobbler, and I need to explain my thinking process at this critical juncture.
As a boy, I hunted the Canada goose with my daddy. Now and then we would wound a goose and the way we put them out of their misery was to grab the goose by the neck and swing him around to “ring his neck.” So I figured this would be the remedy for my wounded gobbler.  He was not able to run from me, so I propped my gun against a tree and ran over to the turkey.
Thus began the struggle between life and death for not only the turkey, but for me too!
Now this big bird stood almost chest high to me, and when I snatched him up off the ground by his neck, he was determined to whip me good. Lucky for me, it was a cool morning and I had heavy clothing on, because as soon as I picked up the very much alive gobbler, he struck me hard in the groin and stomach with his large spurs.
Still hanging onto his neck, which I was trying to ring, I stumbled backward and fell to the ground. What a sight that must have been.
That gobbler was scratching and clawing and covering me with his large wings as I struggled to get out from under him.
No way I could ring his neck or do much to him in that position. He definitely had the advantage being on top of me.
I was still thinking about what he could do with those spurs, maybe hitting me in the neck.
With all my might, I threw the bird off me and scrambled over to my shotgun and dispatched him with a clean head shot at point blank range.
As I laid there catching my breath, the thought came to me that some other hunter may have been in the vicinity and witnessed my unusual struggle with this wild turkey. What an embarrassment that would be!
So before picking up my trophy turkey, I sat quietly for several minutes listening and looking.
Thankfully I concluded that only me, the turkey, and God in heaven would know what happened.
Looking back on it, I think I confessed to Scott and Dave that same day as I had to explain the headless turkey I brought out of the woods.
Since then, in my old age, I actually enjoy recounting the story for the entertainment of friends, and now everyone who reads this will probably get a laugh out of it.
After all, laughter is good for the soul, and for any who may be thinking of venturing into the woods during spring gobbler season, just remember, a turkey gobbler is not the same as a Canada goose!

Bachmann On Obama/Kerry Deal With Iran: ARMAGEDDON !

Common Sense Commentary: In my humble but studied opinion, Michele Bachmann may be exactly right when she suggests that, because of this new, pacifistic, Obama/Kerry deal with Iran, Israel may be forced to preempt Iran's nuclear capability, since Iran has long called for and aggressively sought the annihilation of the State of Israel, and will surely use nuclear power to accomplish that end the day they are able to do so. If you had a neighbor who had a long history of violence and murder, who kept throwing rocks, setting fires and shooting at your house while continually threatening to burn it down while your family sleeps, and the legal authorities or police agencies wouldn't do anything about it, at least you would have the option of moving. Israel doesn't have that option. If any man has that kind of neighbor, he had better take preemptive measures before he and his family are all burned alive. Legal action, after the fact, won't help that murdered family or the nation of Israel if they are dead. The ironic thing is, Armageddon, when God's timing arrives, will happen whether it is ignited because of international accommodation and acquiescence to Islam's aggression against Israel, or because Israel neutralizes Iran with nuclear weapons and that sets off an Islamic attempt at a second holocaust. Either way, the Armageddon battle will be fought and won by Israel, as prophesied in Rev.16:12-21. This will take place around Tel Magiddo in the Valley of Jezreel, where more battles have been fought than any other spot on earth, just south of Nazareth. And, by the way, Michele Bachmann is a committed Christian and a primary founder of the Tea Party. RB

Bachmann On Obama/Kerry

Deal With Iran ...........

ARMAGEDDON

From World Net Daily

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., cut straight to the heart of the matter when WND asked her what the nuclear deal with Iran will mean.

 

“The major nations of the world have chosen to fail to thwart Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. It is a blunder of such great proportion, history will record it’s folly,” she ruefully predicted.

The congresswoman had an equally dire assessment when asked: Did the deal mean Israel would now have no option but to launch a preemptive strike on Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons?
Israel may have ‘to save the world’
“Now Israel must secure not only her destiny, but she may have to save the world from an Islamic-inspired nuclear Armageddon,” she observed ominously.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal brokered by world powers over the weekend a “historic mistake.”
“Iran gets billions of dollars in sanction relief without paying an actual price,” said the prime minister. “Iran gets written permission to breach U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
The deal, spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, will ease strict economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for steps supposed to curb the nation’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu had insisted, to be effective in stopping Iran’s drive to build atomic weapons, any deal had to end Iran’s enriching of uranium and include the demolition of a plutonium reactor under construction.
‘Surrender by the United States’
But an Associated Press analysis showed the Israelis’ worst fears were realized because the deal does not do either of those things and “relies heavily on Iranian goodwill.”
Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton called the deal an “abject surrender by the United States” because “Iran retains its full capacity to enrich uranium, thus abandoning a decade of Western insistence and Security Council resolutions that Iran stop all uranium-enrichment activities.”
He warned, “Iran may have gained all of the time it needs to achieve weaponization not of simply a handful of nuclear weapons, but of dozens or more.”
Bachmann wrote an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post earlier this month that questioned the president’s entire approach to the Mideast, noting Obama recently told the U.N. General Assembly that “Israel’s security as a Jewish and democratic state depends upon the realization of a Palestinian state” rather than neutralizing the threat from Iran.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/11/bachmann-israel-may-have-to-save-world-from-armageddon/#gyLkMIdX28L4VvUa.99



Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., cut straight to the heart of the matter when WND asked her what the nuclear deal with Iran will mean.

 

“The major nations of the world have chosen to fail to thwart Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. It is a blunder of such great proportion, history will record it’s folly,” she ruefully predicted.

The congresswoman had an equally dire assessment when asked: Did the deal mean Israel would now have no option but to launch a preemptive strike on Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons?
Israel may have ‘to save the world’
“Now Israel must secure not only her destiny, but she may have to save the world from an Islamic-inspired nuclear Armageddon,” she observed ominously.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal brokered by world powers over the weekend a “historic mistake.”
“Iran gets billions of dollars in sanction relief without paying an actual price,” said the prime minister. “Iran gets written permission to breach U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
The deal, spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, will ease strict economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for steps supposed to curb the nation’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu had insisted, to be effective in stopping Iran’s drive to build atomic weapons, any deal had to end Iran’s enriching of uranium and include the demolition of a plutonium reactor under construction.
‘Surrender by the United States’
But an Associated Press analysis showed the Israelis’ worst fears were realized because the deal does not do either of those things and “relies heavily on Iranian goodwill.”
Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton called the deal an “abject surrender by the United States” because “Iran retains its full capacity to enrich uranium, thus abandoning a decade of Western insistence and Security Council resolutions that Iran stop all uranium-enrichment activities.”
He warned, “Iran may have gained all of the time it needs to achieve weaponization not of simply a handful of nuclear weapons, but of dozens or more.”
Bachmann wrote an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post earlier this month that questioned the president’s entire approach to the Mideast, noting Obama recently told the U.N. General Assembly that “Israel’s security as a Jewish and democratic state depends upon the realization of a Palestinian state” rather than neutralizing the threat from Iran.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/11/bachmann-israel-may-have-to-save-world-from-armageddon/#gyLkMIdX28L4VvUa.99
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., cut straight to the heart of the matter when WND asked her what the nuclear deal with Iran will mean.

 

“The major nations of the world have chosen to fail to thwart Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. It is a blunder of such great proportion, history will record it’s folly,” she ruefully predicted.

The congresswoman had an equally dire assessment when asked: Did the deal mean Israel would now have no option but to launch a preemptive strike on Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons?
Israel may have ‘to save the world’
“Now Israel must secure not only her destiny, but she may have to save the world from an Islamic-inspired nuclear Armageddon,” she observed ominously.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal brokered by world powers over the weekend a “historic mistake.”
“Iran gets billions of dollars in sanction relief without paying an actual price,” said the prime minister. “Iran gets written permission to breach U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
The deal, spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, will ease strict economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for steps supposed to curb the nation’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu had insisted, to be effective in stopping Iran’s drive to build atomic weapons, any deal had to end Iran’s enriching of uranium and include the demolition of a plutonium reactor under construction.
‘Surrender by the United States’
But an Associated Press analysis showed the Israelis’ worst fears were realized because the deal does not do either of those things and “relies heavily on Iranian goodwill.”
Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton called the deal an “abject surrender by the United States” because “Iran retains its full capacity to enrich uranium, thus abandoning a decade of Western insistence and Security Council resolutions that Iran stop all uranium-enrichment activities.”
He warned, “Iran may have gained all of the time it needs to achieve weaponization not of simply a handful of nuclear weapons, but of dozens or more.”
Bachmann wrote an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post earlier this month that questioned the president’s entire approach to the Mideast, noting Obama recently told the U.N. General Assembly that “Israel’s security as a Jewish and democratic state depends upon the realization of a Palestinian state” rather than neutralizing the threat from Iran.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/11/bachmann-israel-may-have-to-save-world-from-armageddon/#gyLkMIdX28L4VvUa.99
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., cut straight to the heart of the matter when WND asked her what the nuclear deal with Iran will mean.

 

“The major nations of the world have chosen to fail to thwart Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. It is a blunder of such great proportion, history will record it’s folly,” she ruefully predicted.

The congresswoman had an equally dire assessment when asked: Did the deal mean Israel would now have no option but to launch a preemptive strike on Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons?
Israel may have ‘to save the world’
“Now Israel must secure not only her destiny, but she may have to save the world from an Islamic-inspired nuclear Armageddon,” she observed ominously.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal brokered by world powers over the weekend a “historic mistake.”
“Iran gets billions of dollars in sanction relief without paying an actual price,” said the prime minister. “Iran gets written permission to breach U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
The deal, spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, will ease strict economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for steps supposed to curb the nation’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu had insisted, to be effective in stopping Iran’s drive to build atomic weapons, any deal had to end Iran’s enriching of uranium and include the demolition of a plutonium reactor under construction.
‘Surrender by the United States’
But an Associated Press analysis showed the Israelis’ worst fears were realized because the deal does not do either of those things and “relies heavily on Iranian goodwill.”
Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton called the deal an “abject surrender by the United States” because “Iran retains its full capacity to enrich uranium, thus abandoning a decade of Western insistence and Security Council resolutions that Iran stop all uranium-enrichment activities.”
He warned, “Iran may have gained all of the time it needs to achieve weaponization not of simply a handful of nuclear weapons, but of dozens or more.”
Bachmann wrote an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post earlier this month that questioned the president’s entire approach to the Mideast, noting Obama recently told the U.N. General Assembly that “Israel’s security as a Jewish and democratic state depends upon the realization of a Palestinian state” rather than neutralizing the threat from Iran.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/11/bachmann-israel-may-have-to-save-world-from-armageddon/#gyLkMIdX28L4VvUa.99

I Heard A Train In The Night

Common Sense Commentary:

The first house I remember living in, as a child, was a small three room, shot-gun style built by my dad. We lived on the western edge of Sweetwater in West Texas. One of my earliest memories was on cold, clear, winter nights. My mother would iron our cold sheets with a hot brick, wrap it in a towel and place it at our feet. I would lie there, in the cold darkness and listen to the far away, shrill whistle of one of those old, black, steam engine trains passing through Sweetwater, headed west. I can still hear that shrill, mysterious whistle, in my memory, and the excitement it brought to my imagination. I have had a love affair with passenger trains ever since, and have ridden trains all over the U.S. and Canada, as well as Mexico, Jamaica, Europe and Korea ... over the years. Train whistles, or horns, have never negatively affected my sleep or desire to catch a train to distant places. The opposite is true. We now live close enough to a railroad track to hear train horns in the night. I pay no attention to them in the day. Last night, a cold, late November, Texas midnight, I enjoyed another short train trip ... in my dreams or imagination, when I heard a train passing through ... on it's way somewhere I would like to go. I thought I heard, in the distance, the "last days" train, whose horn was a trumpet, sounding a final warning ... of it's arrival and departure ... for glory. The conductor shouted "All aboard" and swung  his lantern, a signal to the engineer, who sounded his horn once more, and our final trip began. I don't know if I was asleep or awake, but I was happily on board that last train ... outbound. RB

What Has God Gifted You To Do?

Common Sense Commentary: There are many "teachers" occupying the teacher's desk in thousands of classrooms today .... who can't teach a lick. True teaching is a God given gift. To be a good teacher the gifted person must study teaching and information, educate their gift and their ability, sharpen it, polish it, think deeply about the information they will impart and then use the gift ... teach with commitment and dedication. And then, give God the glory for the gift. But if you don't have the gift of teaching, seek God's will for your life and the gift He has given you to fulfill His will, but don't try to teach if you don't have the gift. Do what God has gifted you to do.  If you don't know what that is ...."Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Matt.7:7.  Jesus promised it. RB


NOW SHE IS A TEACHER!!!

 

In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten.  On the     first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.  'Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?'

 

 

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

 

 

   They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'  'No,' she said.

 

 

'Maybe it's our behavior.' She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

 

 

   And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room

 

 

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.

 

 

   At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

 

 

    Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have.  Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

 

 

   By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW

         

 

There Are Two Sides To Every Holy Day... Christian And Counterfeit

Common Sense Commentary:  "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15.

I have often mentioned the fact that Satan has counterfeited every single holy thing, of God, from false gods, false Christs, false churches, false Christians, false bibles, false prophets,  false doctrine, false spirits, false experiences, false Holy Days, and so on.


Coming up are the three supposedly Christian "Holy Days" in America. There are two distinctly different views of these Holidays. The first holiday is seen, by some, as a time of "Thanksgiving" to God for His abundant blessings; and as "Turkey Day" by others... who can't seem to bear calling it what it is ... "Thanksgiving" or Giving Thanks to God. The media and most businesses jump from the wild and woolly Halloween celebration, with all it's witches, goblins and dark symbolism.... completely ignoring Thanksgiving .... to a Christless Christmas.

"Christmas", is celebrated by some, as a time of remembrance of the birth of Jesus, shepherds coming to Him, and wise men bringing gifts to Him and worshiping Him. On the other side are those thinking Santa Clause, reindeer and exchanging gifts with each other. The former put up nativity scenes; the latter put up Santa on the roof and send Xmas cards. Strangely they X Christ out of Christmas, the only word in the English language where the most meaningful part of it is X'ed out. It is now politically incorrect to say "Merry Christmas", at Christmas, but correct to say, "Happy Holidays". After all, what does Christ have to do with it?

And then there are those who recognize Easter as a time  to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the grave, on the one side, and, on the other, those who see Easter as a time to buy a new outfit, and tell the children about the Easter Rabbit and Easter Eggs. Christ is given little notice in Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter by the majority of Americans. Though they are not the exact dates of the original, pilgrim's celebration, or birthday of Jesus, or of His resurrection, it matters not. I'm for celebrating those events every day including Halloween, National Atheists Day, and Ground-hog Day.

 The way a person thinks of these "Holy Days" reveals more than they know about themselves and their priorities. Can you do both? Well, maybe so, but where is your emphasis? Our emphasis will be revealed by the time, effort and money we invest in our favorite of the two sides of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Jesus said, "....Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Lk.12:34.
He also said, "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." Lk.11:23.

I'm sorry if I have offended you, but ask yourself, "What does Jesus think" about the real meaning of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter as compared to the counterfeits. Imagine God looking down on the scene ... What does He think about what He sees most us emphasizing on these supposedly "Holy Days" ?  The truth is, every day is a good time to express our thanksgiving to God and celebrate Christ's birth into this world, and His resurrection from the dead. RB

A Soldier's Pledge: "As Though Victory Depends On Me Alone"

The character of commitment to a just cause.

Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?

Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.

Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar,
By faith’s discerning eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be Thine.

I concede your right to disagree with me in my interpretation of holy scripture. Will you also concede my right to determine for myself what I believe it means, and preach it?

I have aggravated a lot of Liberals and Religionists by my preaching and teaching and blog commentary. A woman asked me, "Why don't you stick with religion and avoid politics and secular subjects like Socialism, abortion, homosexual marriages, drug addiction, and government corruption?" First, most "religion" is false religion and sends people to hell, and I have not left that out of my commentary subjects. Nor will I leave out any worldly force which contradicts the scripture and ruins people's lives and families and nations. God has always sent ministers to win souls to Christ, disciple them, and confront the gates of hell which distract, misguide and destroy all that is holy. Part of my calling is to throw light on Lucifer's error and expose him in this continuing Battle of the Ages which was begun by Lucifer ... against God. So my answer to the question the lady raised is, "Because my faith is a practical, realistic faith. First, we Christians must pray, believe, and trust God to protect and bless; but then, work, plan, sacrifice, prepare and fight when necessary ... because faith without works is dead and dead faith will not accomplish anything but a funeral.  "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James 2:20&26.

In the speech in which President Reagan read the "Soldier's Pledge", he also referenced the battle of Chosin Reservoir in which I and my "Chosin Few" brothers fought Atheistic Communism. Yes, we prayed, but we also killed a reported 34,000 Chinese Communist Soldiers, who were killing innocent civilians, in that one eighteen day battle.  God helped us in a similar way He helped the armies of his people Israel all through the Old Testament. All Israeli soldiers were not believers but they fought alongside their Israeli compatriots against the pagan's who attacked them and their nation. 

If you are going to join Christ as your Lord and follow Him, you will be attacked by Satan and his henchmen, flunkies, and hirelings. There will be times when we must rebuke demons, expose them and use a whip, as Christ did on the money-changers, or carry a weapon as He charged his Apostles to do in Luke 22:36...   "... He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."

Here is a worthy pledge for every soldier in the armies of freedom-loving countries and every civilian also defending those freedoms and supporting those soldiers. Not to mention facing down the devil's sycophants.... or removing them. RB

The Soldier's Pledge:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/rKsW6c_CgFY?feature=player_detailpage%20%5b1

Does It Matter Now?

Common Sense Commentary: We, as Americans, have casually by-passed dozens of flashing red light warnings, scores of detour signs and flag waving citizens with STOP signs and BRIDGE OUT signs to stop us from impending disaster ... but. as if in a drunken stupor, we proceeded on .... it didn't seem to matter. RB


WHEN - he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan, Moamar Kaddafi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -it was pointed out that he was a total newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill  Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -his voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -he refused to wear a flag lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -people started  treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises people said it didn’t matter.

 

WHEN -he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -he surrounded himself in the White House with advisers who were pro-gun control, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual marriage and wanting to curtail freedom  of speech to silence the opposition, people said it didn't  matter.

 

WHEN -he said he favors sex education in kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -his personal background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate for several months, then produced a seriously flawed one, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -he had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezzo - a man of questionable character and who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home - people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money  to get him elected, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -he started appointing White House Czars that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist/Communists, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he stood before the Nation and told us that his intentions were to fundamentally transform this Nation into something else, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he appointed cabinet members and several advisers who were tax cheats and socialists, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he appointed a Science Czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen  mothers, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he appointed Cass Sunstein as Regulatory Czar who believes in "Explicit Consent," harvesting human organs without family consent and allowing animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual and organizer of a group called Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network as Safe School Czar and it became known that  he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he appointed Mark Lloyd as Diversity Czar who believes in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth, who supports Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -Valerie Jarrett, an avowed Socialist, was selected as Obama 's Senior White House Adviser, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director, said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he appointed Carol Browner, a well-known socialist as Global Warming Czar working on Cap and Trade as the nations largest tax, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he appointed Van  Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as Green Energy Czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN- Tom Daschle, Obama 's pick for Health and Human Services Secretary could not be confirmed because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - as President of the United States , he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn't  matter.

 

WHEN - he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - his actions concerning the Middle East seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our longtime ally, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to  the United States, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops early-on when the Field Commanders said they were necessary to win, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he started  spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions, and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc., people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN - he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -he claimed he was a Christian during the election and tapes were later made public that showed Obama speaking to a Muslim group and stating that he  was raised a Muslim, was educated as a Muslim, and is still a Muslim, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN -he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn't matter.

 

So, now that you can see our country coming apart at the seams, our integrity non-existent, International trust in the U.S. gone forever and economic disaster developing here at home ... does it now matter... that it is too late to matter?

 

This Short, Guided Missile Hits The Target Dead Center

Common Sense Commentary:   The shortest, and possibly the most accurate but controversial, commentary I have read concerning the present situation in our country. It is Politically Incorrect but we all know it is the truth. RB

 

 

Written by a USMC Vet without a signature.

 

 

He wrote:

 

The American Dream ended (on November 6th) in Ohio . The second term of Barack Obama will be the final nail in the coffin for the legacy of the white Christian males who discovered, explored, pioneered, settled and developed the greatest Republic in the history of mankind.

A coalition of Blacks, Latinos, Feminists, Gays, Government Workers, Union Members,  Environmental Extremists, The Media, Hollywood , uninformed young people, the "forever needy," the chronically unemployed, illegal aliens and other "fellow travelers" have ended Norman Rockwell's America .

 

The Cocker Spaniel is off the front porch...the Pit Bull is in the back yard.

 

The American Constitution has been replaced with Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and Chicago shyster, David Axelrod, along with international Socialist George Soros will be pulling the strings on their beige puppet to bring us Act 2 of the New World Order.

Our side ran two candidates who couldn't even win their own home states, and the circus fatty Chris Christie helped Obama over the top with a glowing "post Sandy " tribute that elevated the "Commander-in-Chief" to Mother Teresa status.

People like me are completely politically irrelevant, and I will never again comment on or concern myself with the aforementioned coalition which has surrendered our culture, our heritage and our traditions without a shot being fired.

 

You will never again out vote these people. It will take individual acts of defiance and massive displays of civil disobedience to get back the rights we have allowed them to take away. It will take Zealots, not moderates--not reach-across-the-aisle RINOs to right this ship and restore our beloved country to its former status.

 

Those who come after us will have to risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to bring back the Republic that this generation has timidly frittered away due to "white guilt" and political correctness....

 

I'm done.

The Jews: They Will Not Go Quietly Again

Common Sense Commentary: If the Jews are unique,  in being hated, persecuted, brutalized, and in forced dispersal, they are also unique as chosen of God to fill a special relationship to Him; In the Old Testament Prophets, The New Testament penmen and Apostles, and especially in God's "only begotten Son", Jesus, in whom was the eternal Messiah/Christ. Him whom God sent ... His sacrifice for all of humanity's sins.  That is not to say they are never wrong or that a majority of them will be in heaven. The majority of them, past and present, reject Jesus Christ, their own prophesied Messiah, right out of the pages of their Old Testament.  God's special endowment of them, in these things, also burdens them with an added responsibility, which they must answer to Him for, in the judgement.  But still, their destiny, as a remnant of Israel, is to finally believe on Him in the last days according to their prophet Zechariah ...."And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."  Zechariah 12:10.
The future of Israel, in these last days, will be a wonder to behold. Though few of them, as yet, are what is known as "Completed Jews" (Christians), God will still perform miracles of unequaled "High" technology, and divine intervention, in delivering Israel from their historic, Biblical enemies that they may fulfill His purposes for them and the world. RB

 

The following is a masterful work of perception and truth,
with the slight exception of a couple of phrases. RB

 

The Jews are never going quietly again

By Joe McCain

There is a lot of worry popping up in the media just now — "Can Israel Survive?"

Don't worry about it. It relates to something that Palestinians, the Arabs, and perhaps most Americans don't realize — the Jews are never going quietly again. Never.  And if the world doesn't come to understand that, then millions of Arabs are going to die. It's as simple as that.

Throughout the history of the world, the most abused, kicked-around race of people have been the Jews. Not just during the Holocaust of World War II, but for thousands of years. They have truly been "The Chosen People" in a terrible and tragic sense.

The Bible story of Egypt's enslavement of the Jews is not just a story, it is history, if festooned with theological legend and heroic epics. In 70 A.D. the Romans, which had for a long time tolerated the Jews — even admired them as "superior" to other vassals — tired of their truculent demands for independence and decided on an early "Solution" to the Jewish problem.  Jerusalem was sacked and reduced to near rubble, Jewish resistance was pursued and crushed by the implacable Roman War Machine — see "Masada." And thus began The Diaspora, the dispersal of Jews throughout the rest of the world.

Their homeland destroyed, their culture crushed, they looked desperately for the few niches in a hostile world where they could be safe. That safety was fragile, and often subject to the whims of moody hosts. The words "pogrom," "ghetto," and "anti-Semitism" come from this treatment of the first mono-theistic people. Throughout Europe, changing times meant sometimes tolerance, sometimes even warmth for the Jews, but eventually it meant hostility, then malevolence. There is not a country in Europe or Western Asia that at one time or another has not decided to lash out against the children of Moses, sometimes by whim, sometimes by manipulation.

Winston Churchill calls Edward I one of England's very greatest kings. It was under his rule in the late 1200's that Wales and Cornwall were hammered into the British crown, and Scotland and Ireland were invaded and occupied. He was also the first European monarch to set up a really effective administrative bureaucracy, surveyed and censured his kingdom, established laws and political divisions. But he also embraced the Jews.

Actually Edward didn't embrace Jews so much as he embraced their money.

For the English Jews had acquired wealth — understandable, because this people that could not own land or office, could not join most of the trades and professions, soon found out that money was a very good thing to accumulate. Much harder to take away than land or a store, was a hidden sock of gold and silver coins. Ever resourceful, Edward found a way — he borrowed money from the Jews to finance imperial ambitions in Europe, especially France. The loans were almost certainly not made gladly, but how do you refuse your King? Especially when he is "Edward the Hammer." Then, rather than pay back the debt, Edward simply expelled the Jews. Edward was especially inventive — he did this twice. After a time, he invited the Jews back to their English homeland, borrowed more money, then expelled them again.

Most people do not know that Spain was one of the early entrants into The Renaissance. People from all over the world came to Spain in the late medieval period. All were welcome — Arabs, Jews, other Europeans. The University of Salamanca was one of the great centers of learning in the world — scholars of all nations, all fields came to Salamanca to share their knowledge and their ideas. But in 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella, having driven the last of Moors from the Spanish Shield, were persuaded by the righteous fundamentalists of the time to announce "The Act of Purification."

A series of steps were taken in which all Jews and Arabs and other non-Christians were expelled from the country, or would face the tools and the torches of The Inquisition. From this "cleansing" come the Sephardic Jews — as opposed to the Ashkenazis of Eastern Europe.

In Eastern Europe, the sporadic violence and brutality against Jews are common knowledge. "Fiddler" without the music and the folksy humor.  At times of fury, no accommodation by the Jew was good enough, no profile low enough, no village poor enough or distant enough.

From these come the near-steady flow of Jews to the United States. And despite the disdain of the Jews by most "American" Americans, they came to grab the American Dream with both hands, and contributed everything from new ideas of enterprise in retail and entertainment to becoming some of our finest physicians and lawyers. The modern United States, in spite of itself, IS The United States in part because of its Jewish blood.

Then the Nazi Holocaust — the corralling, sorting, orderly eradication of millions of the people of Moses. Not something that other realms in other times didn't try to do, by the way, the Germans were just more organized and had better murder technology.

I stood in the center of Dachau for an entire day, about 15 years ago, trying to comprehend how this could have happened. I had gone there on a side trip from Munich, vaguely curious about this Dachau. I soon became engulfed in the enormity of what had occurred there nestled in this middle and working class neighborhood.

How could human beings do this to other human beings, hear their cries, their pleas, their terror, their pain, and continue without apparently even wincing? I no longer wonder. At some times, some places, ANY sect of the human race is capable of horrors against their fellow man, whether a member of the Waffen SS, a Serbian sniper, a Turkish policeman in 1920's Armenia, a Mississippi Klansman. Because even in the United States not all was a Rose Garden. For a long time Jews had quotas in our universities and graduate schools. Only so many Jews could be in a medical or law school at one time. Jews were disparaged widely. I remember as a kid Jewish jokes told without a wince — "Why do Jews have such big noses?"

Well, now the Jews have a homeland again. A place that is theirs. And that's the point. It doesn't matter how many times the United States and European powers try to rein in Israel, if it comes down to survival of its nation, its people, they will fight like no lioness has ever fought to save her cubs. They will fight with ferocity, a determination, and a skill, that will astound us.

And many will die, mostly their attackers, I believe. If there were a macabre historical betting parlor, my money would be on the Israelis to be standing at the end. As we killed the kamikazes and the Wehrmacht soldaten of World War II, so will the Israelis kill their suicidal attackers, until there are not enough to torment them.

The irony goes unnoticed — while we are hammering away to punish those who brought the horrors of 9-11 here, we restrain the Israelis from the same retaliation. Not the same thing, of course — We are We, They are They. We don't notice that Israel has a 9-11 sometimes every day.

We may not notice, but it doesn't make any difference. And it doesn't make any difference whether you are pro-Israeli or you think Israel is the bully of the Middle East. If it comes to where a new holocaust looms — with or without the concurrence of the United States and Europe — Israel will lash out without pause or restraint at those who would try to annihilate their country.

The Jews will not go quietly again.

Joe McCain is the brother of Senator John McCain and a retired reporter. Reprinted from Freeman.org.