Common Sense Commentary: Bettie and I have six children and "approximately" sixty five or seventy grand and great grand children. I don't know which is most difficult, a child trying to grow up, young adults trying to learn to be parents .... and still stay married, middle aged parents trying to pay all the bills and save for retirement too, or old age when your mistakes and failures come back to haunt you just when your old body and senses are dragging you toward the grave. Through it all, I have learned one remedy and cure-all ... "God's grace is sufficient." II Cor.12:9. "And He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Vain pride, boasting and self-centeredness is not a desirable characteristic in an adult and no better in a child. Self-centered adults have been self-centered children. Our Lord said in Prov.22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." The opposite is most often true as well, "Train up a child in a way he should not go, by your words and actions, and he will not depart from that either." Letting a child, or negligently training him/her to be vainly proud and self-centered in his pliable young years, will produce a vainly proud, self-centered adult. Character flaws do not tend to diminish but enlarge with age. There is no bitterness more deeply rooted than an old bitter person who has carried bitterness throughout life into old age. Its marks are deeply impressed upon the very face of an old bitter person.
Neither is it a good thing to constantly tell a child how cute, beautiful or handsome they are. Vanity takes root like Bind Weed in a garden. You can't dig it out, starve it out, burn it, or poison it. It can ruin the garden. A better way is to tell a child how much you and God love them and how precious they are to you and God too. Tell them they have a good face or they are intelligent or clean, or pleasant to be around. Each child in a family should feel equally loved. Praise them for a job well done, a good report card, legible writing, or showing respect and consideration toward others. Beauty can be more of a curse than a blessing.
Threatening a child or screaming is not as effective as cautioning , even warning him of the consequences of his words and actions. You don't want your boss screaming at you so don't mislead your child into thinking that a screaming "no" means "no" but a calm "no" means nothing. Set the rules and enforce them until your calm "no" sounds to him like, "NO". I am not saying I always lived up to my preaching, especially when I was young, but balance improves with maturity and "God's grace is sufficient".
Most important is to always keep your word. Don't promise things you may not be able to do. Better to surprise a child with something special than breaking your word to them. Promise little and deliver much more .... not the opposite. Highly compliment a responsibility or job well done but never reward negligence or disobedience or pouting. If you promise punishment for a forbidden action or disobedience, you, as a parent must deliver .... or your word means nothing. "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ ...." Gal.3:24.
I feel certain our Lord would not have us using His name to threaten or intimidate a child by saying things like "God will get you for that" or "punish you". Better to say, "We are going to pray and ask God to forgive you." Of course sometimes corporal punishment is in order but God doesn't have to hit us when we do wrong, He has long since set in motion laws like "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap" that automatically react upon us. "For the wages of sin is death ..." Rom.6:23. Sin kills people who practice it. There is within every sin the seed of its own destruction. Living recklessly results in death more often than caution. Drunkenness will kill your liver, your stomach and your body much sooner than temperance. Robbing liquor stores tends to eventually cause an unnatural death. Just going into a neighborhood to buy drugs kills an inordinate number of people. Promiscuous sex is more dangerous than a loaded shotgun. The same is true when someone jumps from a ten story building and splashes on the sidewalk. God didn't kill them ... gravity did. Its a law God made.
Never, as a parent, criticize a child's mother or father to them. They will catch that virus from you and feel free to do the same. Divorce is no excuse either. If you point out all the flaws and "evil" their other parent has done, the child will conclude that since he/she are of the same flesh that they too are terrible people. It never pays to make a child think less of a parent. That is his only Mom or Dad no matter how hurt or angry you are at your spouse or former spouse.
It is so common for parents or friends of the child to give fatal advice to him/her. It is totally out of focus to tell a teenager to, "Follow your heart" concerning a boyfriend, girlfriend, or marriage. God tells the truth ...... "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jer.17:9. Your teenagers are beginning to feel the same lusts and temptations as you but they don't usually know lust from love or a boyfriend's sweet words and promises from the TRUTH. Teens do not and are not supposed to have the wisdom of maturity and reality. They are most often easily led astray by friends. They should be "trained up" by parents to follow, not feelings or their "heart" but RIGHT, JUSTICE, PURITY in one word, JESUS. In fact that is exactly what He said. In the book of Mark alone, Jesus said "Follow me" six times. Young people or adults who simply follow their feelings or their heart, (which may be lust, pride, anger, etc.) will spend their lives being run over out there in the traffic of that "broad way that leads to destruction" Matt.7:13.
It is just as erroneous and destructive to tell a young person to, "Go out there in that big world and discover who you are." They already think "who they are" is what their fleshly lusts are secretly whispering to their "hearts" and flesh .... and be sure when they walk out of your home .... "sin lieth at the door". Gen.4:7. The world is as full of "opportunities to do wrong" as the Okefenokee is of water moccasins. Young people often don't know whether they are impotent, homo, male or female and given the wrong circumstances, have been convinced or converted, by perverts or friends, into something they were never intended to be by their Holy Creator God. What and who they discover in the streets is seldom wholesome and good. Our first poodle, in Florida, insisted he could take care of himself with the big boys. He was a canine teenager, in dog years, when he went out into that big world to "discover who he was" and met a big friendly pit bull who left him ripped and torn and nearly dead lying out there in the "broad way". So after he finally healed up, he stayed at home in the back yard which backed up to a swamp. Like the prodigal son, he adventured down to the edge of the swamp where an alligator took him in and gave him a new home. Dear young person, you too have some poisonous snakes, pit bulls and alligators in your immediate future ... just waiting for you to come out and play.
Think about this, young person. If you feel so much more mature and experienced than your younger siblings, and I'm sure you are, don't you think the same is true with your parents ? You can't know they are so much more wise and experienced than you because you have never been in their shoes but they have been in yours as you have been in your little brother or sister's shoes. Listen to Mom and Dad. They love you more than anyone but God Himself. Follow Jesus in "the narrow way he walked".
Pass it on. RB
Apr 18, 2011
Apr 16, 2011
TSUNAMI: The Final Arrival, Progression And Utter Horror Of The Predicted !
Common Sense Commentary: Oh, that's impossible ... OK, it is possible ... It is predicted?? ... It is now coming ... It is HERE ! ... It is BAD ! ... It is WORSE ... It is HORRIBLE ! ... It is DEVASTATING ! It is the END !
The Video link below contains the voices of a small group of Japanese residents of a destroyed city expressing their increasing horror at what they are seeing happen to their homes and city before their eyes. It is beyond their expectation, beyond their imagination, unbelievable, impossible, but real. And so it was ... and so it is.
"We can get a better view of the action up here on the hill." ....
"Wow, would you look at that wave coming in." ....................
"Hey, its going to wash away our beach." .........................
"Uh Oh, its reaching the beach homes." ...........................
"This is worse that I thought it would be." ......................
"Oh God, its reaching into the town ...unbelievable." ............
"Dear Lord, its still coming ... our town is ruined." ............
"No, No, No, No God No, it can't be ! No, No, No." ...............
"Our whole town is washing away, everything, everybody." .........
"All those people, our friends, our relatives, are dead, gone." ..
"There are Mr. and Mrs. Sumato running this way...Hurry, Hurry ...
"We must get higher ! Run, Run up higher, Run, Run, Run ..........
"Run for your lives ! RUN, RUN, RUN ..............................
Here is the video link to the Tsunami. It is horrible. Click on the link below. When page comes up, scroll down to the second picture which is the video. When there, click on "Full Screen" and then the arrow head in middle of screen. Turn up your volume to hear the people's increasing horror reactions to what they are seeing. RB
http://modernmarketingjapan.blogspot.com/2011/04/heaviest-video-of-tsunami-youll-ever.html
Jesus Christ is God's answer to our sinful nature and the horrors that await the unbelieving, unsaved. RB
The Video link below contains the voices of a small group of Japanese residents of a destroyed city expressing their increasing horror at what they are seeing happen to their homes and city before their eyes. It is beyond their expectation, beyond their imagination, unbelievable, impossible, but real. And so it was ... and so it is.
"We can get a better view of the action up here on the hill." ....
"Wow, would you look at that wave coming in." ....................
"Hey, its going to wash away our beach." .........................
"Uh Oh, its reaching the beach homes." ...........................
"This is worse that I thought it would be." ......................
"Oh God, its reaching into the town ...unbelievable." ............
"Dear Lord, its still coming ... our town is ruined." ............
"No, No, No, No God No, it can't be ! No, No, No." ...............
"Our whole town is washing away, everything, everybody." .........
"All those people, our friends, our relatives, are dead, gone." ..
"There are Mr. and Mrs. Sumato running this way...Hurry, Hurry ...
"We must get higher ! Run, Run up higher, Run, Run, Run ..........
"Run for your lives ! RUN, RUN, RUN ..............................
Here is the video link to the Tsunami. It is horrible. Click on the link below. When page comes up, scroll down to the second picture which is the video. When there, click on "Full Screen" and then the arrow head in middle of screen. Turn up your volume to hear the people's increasing horror reactions to what they are seeing. RB
http://modernmarketingjapan.blogspot.com/2011/04/heaviest-video-of-tsunami-youll-ever.html
Jesus Christ is God's answer to our sinful nature and the horrors that await the unbelieving, unsaved. RB
Apr 10, 2011
Christian Growth With Increasing Responsibility
Common Sense Commentary: Growth from a new Christian to a faithful Ambassador for Christ. ................................................................................................ I. A Believing Child of God = "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ .... For ye are all the CHILDREN of GOD by faith in Christ Jesus." Gal.3:24-26 ........... II. A Diligent Student of Scripture = "STUDY to show thyself approved unto God .... RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH." IITim.2:5......................................................................... III. An Honest Tither of 10% = "And All the TITHE ... is the Lord's: It is HOLYunto the Lord." Lev.27:30 ............................................ IV. A Wise Steward of Your Possessions = "And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and WISE STEWARD, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household?" Lk.12:42 ................................... V. An Obedient Witness to the World = "Go ye therefore and TEACH ALL NATIONS ...." Mt.28:19 ............................................... VI. A Compassionate Disciple of Christ = "Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I HAVE COMPASSION on the multitudes ...." Matt.15:32 .........................................................................................VII. A Faithful Ambassador for Christ = "Now then we are AMBASSADORS for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." II Cor.5:20. Pass it on. RB
If Love Is The Root ... What Is The Fruit ?
Common Sense Commentary: In my studies of Scripture over the last sixty plus years, I have crossed the tracks of a thing called MONEY hundreds of times but by various names .... coin, riches, tithe, goods etc. These regular sightings of that monetary mammon have made me aware of the reason Jesus said, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred (been secuced) from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. I Tim.6:10.
WHY , in 1910-13, did "Big Bankers" , with the secret co-operation of other Billionaires, our Government and millionaire Politicians, institute a "Central Bank" system, owned by the Bankers, which has total authority to create our currency in absolute secrecy? ........ And, WHY did our Government help them do it?
Also, WHY is the printing of "Paper Money" and its computer geek, mirror twin, "Digital Money" so secretive to Central Bankers that even Presidents and Congress do not know what they are doing behind the walls of the Federal Reserve Bank System ... and can't get answers? Their Congressional establishment authorized them to print our money without Congress knowing how much they print , what they do with it, or how much it costs. What is so secret about the printing and distribution of our National Currency by a privately owned Central Bank named "Federal Reserve Bank" which is not any more "Federal" than "Federal Express"? "Federal Reserve" is simply an alias. She is really the illegitimate daughter of a sordid union, on Jekyll Island between the International, illicit World Bank and our philandering Congress. Her DNA is half "Federal" and half "Banker". Only her Mamma's side of this dysfunctional family knows the secret truth about her. After her licentious Daddy, Congress, made that original deposit on Jekyll Island, Georgia, he scootered back to Washington and left his "one nighter" paramour to do her thing with many other Parliaments, Congresses, Dictators and the National Ruling Classes of the world.
The question is WHY did it happen here ? The simple answer to these questions is, "LUST FOR POWER" to Control Nations and the means to that end is , of course, MONEY ! There is, within a certain personality type, a gene ... or genie or demon, that drives those infected persons to DOMINATE, and CONTROL other people, organizations and even nations and to make the rules by which all will live. Domination/Control requires POWER and Power requires the har nessing of people/followers, and that requires Money. The easiest and most effective way to control people and nations is not armies, tanks and guns but, again, MONEY. Thus .... their "love of money". Jesus said, "The love of money is the root of all evil". Not "money" mind you but the LOVE of it. There is nothing "evil" about money until it takes "root" in your soul. Even Jesus and the Apostles used money. Witness the "coin" in the fishes mouth to pay their taxes. Also the money "bag" Judas carried so covetously to skim for himself and to pay for their needs. So, it is the LOVE of Money that spawns evil of all kinds.
Money is simply a tool, like a knife or hammer. They can be used for good or evil. I think one of the most evil or all evils is "rooted" in the soul of some dictatorial, power hungry, political sociopath who absorbs all the people's money and uses it to enrich himself and buy power to rule over those same poor people. This has happened thousands of times and is still happening. Jesus said to God , "Not my will but thine be done". Lucifer said, "Not thy will but mine be done". So how does money accomplish the egomaniac's will? Money literally represents an individual's life. It represents all the things a person gives of himself to get money, salary or income. Money is received through the exchange of a worker's TIME, on the job, his or her talents to do the job, their energy, brainpower and experience to do the job well. This they give their employer or business TO EARN MONEY to live on. You are actually pouring your LIFE and HEALTH and YEARS into earning MONEY so you can exchange it with someone else for food, shelter, transportation, clothing, education and other necessities and luxuries of life.
In today's world, everyone must have MONEY to survive and you exchange a large part of your very LIFE to get it. The closest we can come to saving our time is to save our money. That is WHY, no matter what they say or swear to, a large segment of society LOVES MONEY. And, that is WHY a smaller, more dangerous type of people struggle, plot, cheat and corrupt in order to CONTROL MONEY ... to CONTROL PEOPLE. Some of them are Socialists like Judas in Jn.12:5-6. Some are Communists, some are Capitalists and some just greedy Opportunists. Whoever it is, "The love of money is the root of all evil" and if love is its root ... Evil is its fruit. Whether it is little Ben stealing a dime at school or big Ben stealing trillions from tax payers to give to his banker friends.
Pass it on. RB
WHY , in 1910-13, did "Big Bankers" , with the secret co-operation of other Billionaires, our Government and millionaire Politicians, institute a "Central Bank" system, owned by the Bankers, which has total authority to create our currency in absolute secrecy? ........ And, WHY did our Government help them do it?
Also, WHY is the printing of "Paper Money" and its computer geek, mirror twin, "Digital Money" so secretive to Central Bankers that even Presidents and Congress do not know what they are doing behind the walls of the Federal Reserve Bank System ... and can't get answers? Their Congressional establishment authorized them to print our money without Congress knowing how much they print , what they do with it, or how much it costs. What is so secret about the printing and distribution of our National Currency by a privately owned Central Bank named "Federal Reserve Bank" which is not any more "Federal" than "Federal Express"? "Federal Reserve" is simply an alias. She is really the illegitimate daughter of a sordid union, on Jekyll Island between the International, illicit World Bank and our philandering Congress. Her DNA is half "Federal" and half "Banker". Only her Mamma's side of this dysfunctional family knows the secret truth about her. After her licentious Daddy, Congress, made that original deposit on Jekyll Island, Georgia, he scootered back to Washington and left his "one nighter" paramour to do her thing with many other Parliaments, Congresses, Dictators and the National Ruling Classes of the world.
The question is WHY did it happen here ? The simple answer to these questions is, "LUST FOR POWER" to Control Nations and the means to that end is , of course, MONEY ! There is, within a certain personality type, a gene ... or genie or demon, that drives those infected persons to DOMINATE, and CONTROL other people, organizations and even nations and to make the rules by which all will live. Domination/Control requires POWER and Power requires the har nessing of people/followers, and that requires Money. The easiest and most effective way to control people and nations is not armies, tanks and guns but, again, MONEY. Thus .... their "love of money". Jesus said, "The love of money is the root of all evil". Not "money" mind you but the LOVE of it. There is nothing "evil" about money until it takes "root" in your soul. Even Jesus and the Apostles used money. Witness the "coin" in the fishes mouth to pay their taxes. Also the money "bag" Judas carried so covetously to skim for himself and to pay for their needs. So, it is the LOVE of Money that spawns evil of all kinds.
Money is simply a tool, like a knife or hammer. They can be used for good or evil. I think one of the most evil or all evils is "rooted" in the soul of some dictatorial, power hungry, political sociopath who absorbs all the people's money and uses it to enrich himself and buy power to rule over those same poor people. This has happened thousands of times and is still happening. Jesus said to God , "Not my will but thine be done". Lucifer said, "Not thy will but mine be done". So how does money accomplish the egomaniac's will? Money literally represents an individual's life. It represents all the things a person gives of himself to get money, salary or income. Money is received through the exchange of a worker's TIME, on the job, his or her talents to do the job, their energy, brainpower and experience to do the job well. This they give their employer or business TO EARN MONEY to live on. You are actually pouring your LIFE and HEALTH and YEARS into earning MONEY so you can exchange it with someone else for food, shelter, transportation, clothing, education and other necessities and luxuries of life.
In today's world, everyone must have MONEY to survive and you exchange a large part of your very LIFE to get it. The closest we can come to saving our time is to save our money. That is WHY, no matter what they say or swear to, a large segment of society LOVES MONEY. And, that is WHY a smaller, more dangerous type of people struggle, plot, cheat and corrupt in order to CONTROL MONEY ... to CONTROL PEOPLE. Some of them are Socialists like Judas in Jn.12:5-6. Some are Communists, some are Capitalists and some just greedy Opportunists. Whoever it is, "The love of money is the root of all evil" and if love is its root ... Evil is its fruit. Whether it is little Ben stealing a dime at school or big Ben stealing trillions from tax payers to give to his banker friends.
Pass it on. RB
Apr 8, 2011
Just One Utility Keeps Most People Civilized !!!
Common Sense Commentary: In today's high technology world, fifty years past small family farms and the Victory Gardens of WWII, civilization is TOTALLY dependent on a thousand types of technology. Literally everything would cease without it. But all of that technology, and civilization itself, is TOTALLY dependent on just one Public Utility ..... ELECTRICITY !!! If the electrical grid failed in our country, for just 90 days, all lighting would go dark, batteries would run down, generators would run out of fuel, gas pumps wouldn't work, Trucks hauling food and cars would stand still, grocery stores would be empty, water could not be pumped into the storage tanks, refrigeration would cease and the food would spoil, air-conditioners and heaters would not work, no employment would function, traffic lights are out, airplanes sit idle, schools are all closed, and your family sits at home with no telephone including cell phones, no television, and no radio after batteries die and stations shut down.
At such a time you would be surrounded by thousands of other families in the same dire situation. They are as thirsty and hungry and desperate and afraid as you are. You might say, "I would get away from the city." HOW ? WHERE ? or, "I would plant a garden." Do you have the seed, the good soil, the knowledge, the water, the tools or the energy ? What do you eat in the mean time ? Even if you got a small garden producing, would those thousands of neighbors starve while your garden has a few vegetables in it and their children are starving ? Who would be safe in a home even with well planned provisions and any amount of food stored in cans or dry ? The great masses of starving people would no longer be restrained from stealing or even murder to stay alive. You say, " I would call 911" HOW ? It does not work anymore. No one is there. Hospital staff, policemen, and emergency crews are all at home or looking for food and water for their families. Those who had stored up lots of food would be in the greatest danger. If you appeared sufficiently fed, they would know you had food. If you had stored up food, you had better also have a gun with sufficient ammo. Even that wouldn't stop starving people. If you are more righteous than others, you might say, "If I had any food, I would share it or give it all away and starve for Jesus." Have you ever seen starving people in a starving city ? I have. I arrived in Italy just after WWII. Practically everyone was desperately poor. Only well experienced agrarian farmers had sufficient food. Crime was rampant. On the seaport dock of Livorno (Leghorn Italy) little boys and parents were trying to sell their little sisters or daughters for anything they could trade for food especially dollars. Most of them never dreamed they would do such a thing, but their electricity was still on. I have seen starving people in Africa and in Asia, but even there, electricity was available. What happens in a developed country when electricity ceases ? Nothing works !!
Good morals, strong character, and high standards aren't enough to sustain starving people from compromising their character and honesty. There is just one thing which will get you through starvation, or any other extreme tribulation, with your soul in tact .....The Apostle Paul faced hundreds of extreme trials and terrible situations including hunger, stonings and being left for dead. He said, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content .... I can do ALL things through CHRIST which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:11-13. In the situation I have described ... there is no other answer. When we have done everything in our power to survive, but no longer can, a Christian should die with dignity and faith. Jesus, Paul and the other Apostles did exactly that.
Pass it on. RB
At such a time you would be surrounded by thousands of other families in the same dire situation. They are as thirsty and hungry and desperate and afraid as you are. You might say, "I would get away from the city." HOW ? WHERE ? or, "I would plant a garden." Do you have the seed, the good soil, the knowledge, the water, the tools or the energy ? What do you eat in the mean time ? Even if you got a small garden producing, would those thousands of neighbors starve while your garden has a few vegetables in it and their children are starving ? Who would be safe in a home even with well planned provisions and any amount of food stored in cans or dry ? The great masses of starving people would no longer be restrained from stealing or even murder to stay alive. You say, " I would call 911" HOW ? It does not work anymore. No one is there. Hospital staff, policemen, and emergency crews are all at home or looking for food and water for their families. Those who had stored up lots of food would be in the greatest danger. If you appeared sufficiently fed, they would know you had food. If you had stored up food, you had better also have a gun with sufficient ammo. Even that wouldn't stop starving people. If you are more righteous than others, you might say, "If I had any food, I would share it or give it all away and starve for Jesus." Have you ever seen starving people in a starving city ? I have. I arrived in Italy just after WWII. Practically everyone was desperately poor. Only well experienced agrarian farmers had sufficient food. Crime was rampant. On the seaport dock of Livorno (Leghorn Italy) little boys and parents were trying to sell their little sisters or daughters for anything they could trade for food especially dollars. Most of them never dreamed they would do such a thing, but their electricity was still on. I have seen starving people in Africa and in Asia, but even there, electricity was available. What happens in a developed country when electricity ceases ? Nothing works !!
Good morals, strong character, and high standards aren't enough to sustain starving people from compromising their character and honesty. There is just one thing which will get you through starvation, or any other extreme tribulation, with your soul in tact .....The Apostle Paul faced hundreds of extreme trials and terrible situations including hunger, stonings and being left for dead. He said, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content .... I can do ALL things through CHRIST which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:11-13. In the situation I have described ... there is no other answer. When we have done everything in our power to survive, but no longer can, a Christian should die with dignity and faith. Jesus, Paul and the other Apostles did exactly that.
Pass it on. RB
Apr 7, 2011
The Sin Of Satan: Self Exaltation/Self Worship
Common Sense Commentary: People are never what they appear to be ...sometimes better, sometimes worse. "...I say... to every man ... not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly ...." Rom.12:3. There is a long history of men exalting themselves or being exalted "above the stars of God". Satan was the first to do it and said those words recorded in Isaiah. After God created him to be one of only three Archangels, God named him Lucifer (God's light reflector, "son of the morning").
I. Lucifer (God's light reflector) , as an Archangel , carried the highest rank of all angels, right under the Godhead. But Lucifer was not satisfied to be so close to God and reflect God's glory.... he wanted to BE God. He was blinded by his beauty and power and became so self-centered that he said, "I will ascend into heaven..., I will exalt my throne..., I will sit upon the mount..., I will ascend above the heights..., I will BE LIKE The Most High God." Isa. 14:12-15.
II. Satanic Self Worship:
.......1. Pharoah was worshiped by all of Egypt. He even worshiped himself and shouted out, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice ...." Ex.5:2.
.......2. Proud Haman hated the man of God, Mordicai, when he "did not bow down (to him) nor did him reverence ... Haman was full of wrath..." and would have killed Mordicai and all Jews except for Esther. Est.3:5.
.......3. King Nebuchadnezzar bellowed out ...."Is not this GREAT BABYLON, that I have built ... by the might of MY power, and for the honor of MY majesty ?" Dan.4:30.
.......4. Even today we see such self-adulation and some, otherwise sane, people hang on their every word and often even worship them .... Movie IDOLS, Athletic STARS, Political GIANTS, A Billionaire ORACLE (INFALLIBLE UTTERANCE) of Omaha, Evangelist PHENOMENON, Literary GODS, Father DIVINES, Masonic MOST WORSHIPFUL MASTER, MOST EXCELLENT GRAND HIGH PRIEST, and this one takes the cake from Grolier Encyclopedia ... Holy Father, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province and Sovereign of the State of Vatican City." And this from the Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. VI "The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God and the Vicar of God." "I will be like the most high...." Am I hearing an echo from the eternal past? Have you read of the lowly Jesus who was the "King of kings?"
.......5. Self-Aggrandizement is Narcissism. Synonyms of "narcissist" are egomaniac, prima donna, conceited, and self-centered. Roget's Thesaurus. A "self-centered Sociopath" synonyms are, schizoid, psychopath, deranged, insane, lunatic and psychotic. I think I know that guy. Synonyms from Roget's Thesaurus. II. Humility is the surest sign of the absence of Narcissism. The Apostle Paul was used mightily of God and wrote half the books of the New Testament. He was also highly educated, intelligent and maybe the greatest human being in "Human History". But, though he was authoritative as an Apostle, he said of himself, "For I am the least of the Apostles, that am not (worthy) to be called an Apostle ..." 1Cor.15:9. Then he went farther than that when he said, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given ...." Eph.3:8. Even Jesus, Emanuel (God with us) the Messiah/Christ bowed down and washed the feet of His disciples as an example of humility. People spoke of Him as "Jesus" not Doctor Jesus or Your Holiness, or Your Majesty but "Jesus", though He was far above any of those titles. I know mediocre preachers who insist on being "properly addressed" as "Doctor Spudannie" or "Reverend Hipockets". I always appreciated Jerry Falwell insisting on being called "Jerry" or, at most, "Pastor Jerry". Once a very young pastor of a group of ten people meeting in his living room, came to me wanting financial support. I had already decided to ask our church to help him .... until he said, "I plan to do exactly what Jerry Falwell has done except much bigger and better." Then I noticed he had never grown past the childish use of the personal pronouns, I, me, my, and mine. I quickly lost interest in his plans. Job said to God, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:5-6. Only when we see God will be see ourselves clearly.
Pass it on. RB
I. Lucifer (God's light reflector) , as an Archangel , carried the highest rank of all angels, right under the Godhead. But Lucifer was not satisfied to be so close to God and reflect God's glory.... he wanted to BE God. He was blinded by his beauty and power and became so self-centered that he said, "I will ascend into heaven..., I will exalt my throne..., I will sit upon the mount..., I will ascend above the heights..., I will BE LIKE The Most High God." Isa. 14:12-15.
II. Satanic Self Worship:
.......1. Pharoah was worshiped by all of Egypt. He even worshiped himself and shouted out, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice ...." Ex.5:2.
.......2. Proud Haman hated the man of God, Mordicai, when he "did not bow down (to him) nor did him reverence ... Haman was full of wrath..." and would have killed Mordicai and all Jews except for Esther. Est.3:5.
.......3. King Nebuchadnezzar bellowed out ...."Is not this GREAT BABYLON, that I have built ... by the might of MY power, and for the honor of MY majesty ?" Dan.4:30.
.......4. Even today we see such self-adulation and some, otherwise sane, people hang on their every word and often even worship them .... Movie IDOLS, Athletic STARS, Political GIANTS, A Billionaire ORACLE (INFALLIBLE UTTERANCE) of Omaha, Evangelist PHENOMENON, Literary GODS, Father DIVINES, Masonic MOST WORSHIPFUL MASTER, MOST EXCELLENT GRAND HIGH PRIEST, and this one takes the cake from Grolier Encyclopedia ... Holy Father, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province and Sovereign of the State of Vatican City." And this from the Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. VI "The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God and the Vicar of God." "I will be like the most high...." Am I hearing an echo from the eternal past? Have you read of the lowly Jesus who was the "King of kings?"
.......5. Self-Aggrandizement is Narcissism. Synonyms of "narcissist" are egomaniac, prima donna, conceited, and self-centered. Roget's Thesaurus. A "self-centered Sociopath" synonyms are, schizoid, psychopath, deranged, insane, lunatic and psychotic. I think I know that guy. Synonyms from Roget's Thesaurus. II. Humility is the surest sign of the absence of Narcissism. The Apostle Paul was used mightily of God and wrote half the books of the New Testament. He was also highly educated, intelligent and maybe the greatest human being in "Human History". But, though he was authoritative as an Apostle, he said of himself, "For I am the least of the Apostles, that am not (worthy) to be called an Apostle ..." 1Cor.15:9. Then he went farther than that when he said, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given ...." Eph.3:8. Even Jesus, Emanuel (God with us) the Messiah/Christ bowed down and washed the feet of His disciples as an example of humility. People spoke of Him as "Jesus" not Doctor Jesus or Your Holiness, or Your Majesty but "Jesus", though He was far above any of those titles. I know mediocre preachers who insist on being "properly addressed" as "Doctor Spudannie" or "Reverend Hipockets". I always appreciated Jerry Falwell insisting on being called "Jerry" or, at most, "Pastor Jerry". Once a very young pastor of a group of ten people meeting in his living room, came to me wanting financial support. I had already decided to ask our church to help him .... until he said, "I plan to do exactly what Jerry Falwell has done except much bigger and better." Then I noticed he had never grown past the childish use of the personal pronouns, I, me, my, and mine. I quickly lost interest in his plans. Job said to God, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:5-6. Only when we see God will be see ourselves clearly.
Pass it on. RB
Apr 5, 2011
Finally! A Glimpse Through A Crack In The FED Wall
Common Sense Commentary: Evil of every kind, encountered constantly over time, slowly wears down the will and bends it to acceptance of all manner of injustice, perversion and corruption ... except where God abides. RB
--- On Tue, 4/5/11, Rayburn Blairwrote: From: Rayburn Blair Subject: Superb Journalism ! To: mwinkler@bloomberg.net Date: Tuesday, April 5, 2011, 3:02 PM
My Letter: Bloomberg News Editor In Chief Mattew Winkler Dear Mr. Winkler Re. Your article on our Federal Reserve Bank bailing out Foreign Banks. Congratulate yourself on being the first and most perceptive journalist to realize something deviously anti-American about the FED's zipperless, buttonless cloak of secrecy. Now we know their real reason for insisting on "the necessity of absolute privacy to protect clients" is, in fact, a smoke screen to hide their "globalization of American wealth" secrets. So now that your "stick of dynamite" law suit has blown a large peep hole in the hingeless door of their Fuherbunker, surely your readers will expect a series of additionally scandalous revelations from inside the beast's lair. My mother said, "When you see one cockroach on the kitchen cabinet, a thousand more are in the walls." Dad put it this way, "For every crime a criminal is caught in, there are a hundred others he got away with." My point is, this one horror story, forcefully revealed, represents untold others still hidden from view of Americans robbed by the FED to bail out foreign banks. Another story yet to be written is their market manipulation of gold and silver prices and who knows what else. Thanks for your diligence and integrity in pursuing this story. Psm.115:1, Rayburn Blair
The Article:
Legacy of Fed Crisis Made It the People's Bank ..... By Michael Winkler Bloomberg News Thursday, March 31, 2011 Americans can take comfort knowing that Congress and the courts affirmed what may prove the most reassuring legacy of the worst financial disaster of our time: The Federal Reserve is the people's bank and is obligated to share what it knows and does with the citizenry it serves. When the Supreme Court last month decided to leave intact a lower court's order, it validated the notions that transparency is an essential requirement of democracy and that the Fed is no less accountable than any other institution in our government. The release yesterday of about 29,000 pages of data has already yielded insights. For example, a European bank, not an American one, was the biggest borrower from the discount window during the height of the 2008 panic. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) visited the discount window more often than it has disclosed. And the Bank of China Ltd. and Arab Banking Corp., a Bahrain-based bank controlled by the Libyan Central Bank, both tapped the window.
Congress, which last year carved an exemption for the Fed's discount window into its Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law, will now get a look at specific loans that went out through the window in 2008. This presents a second chance for lawmakers to require the central bank to disclose the collateral it accepted for those discount window loans during the financial crisis and for its lending through other programs. U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent who wrote most of the Fed transparency provisions in Dodd-Frank, has said the central bank should have already revealed more.
While an audit by the Government Accountability Office that's due in July may lead to additional disclosures, Congress should insist on them. More than two years after the fact, the public ought to know what sort of risks its central bank took when borrowers came to the lender of last resort. At stake is the individual's right to know how the public as involuntary investors provided loans to banks and in what amounts. How we reached this point can be attributed in no small way to a reporter's quest to share with his readers how the Fed, for the first time since its inception in 1913, created $2 trillion of assets and debts to bail out banks. After his repeated attempts to obtain this data were rebuffed, the late Mark Pittman, who reported on credit markets, sued the Fed through Bloomberg News' parent company under the Freedom of Information Act. The Fed initially said that U.S. citizens don't have the right to know these things and resisted all requests for an accounting under FOIA. When its lawyers went to court to prevent disclosure, federal Judge Loretta A. Preska of the Southern District of New York ruled that the central bank is obligated to release records of its lending on behalf of the taxpayer. The Fed took the case to the U.S. court of appeals in New York, which upheld Preska's ruling. The central bank declined to pursue its claim to the highest court, leaving it to the Clearing House Association, which represents the country's biggest commercial banks, to make the final appeal.
U.S. law, as the courts have defined it, says that central bank independence doesn't mean independent from the people. Independence means independent from the executive branch, not from Congress, which alone has the constitutional power to coin money. Congress delegates that power to the Federal Reserve. At some point long before financial markets collapsed in 2008, the Fed forgot that it is the central bank for the people of the United States and not a private academy where decisions of great importance may be withheld from public scrutiny.
The Obama administration, which paradoxically championed transparency in government when it came into office and then for two years supported the Fed in its resistance to be transparent, ultimately decided to let the lower court orders stand. Still, this reversal wasn't a sign that the administration was embracing the president's directive to "adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA." Instead, the solicitor general merely acknowledged that, in many ways, Congress had already settled the question. The showdown over transparency culminated in July with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act requiring the Fed to disclose its lending on a two-year lag from now on. That change, which institutionalized transparency, represents a turning point in the way the U.S. central bank does business, and begins a new era of accountability for the lender and its borrowers alike. For all its virtues, Dodd-Frank didn't require a public accounting of discount window lending during the financial crisis. Now, the courts have filled in that gap.
The public will get a view into how the Fed used public money to shore up banks that were struggling as a result of conditions the banks themselves helped create. Shareholders in banks where executives' poor decisions were, in part, papered over by the Fed's lending will be able to see just how important the discount window and the unusual steps taken to boost its lending beginning in August 2007 were to keeping their banks afloat. While the notion that no U.S. institution is above accountability has been affirmed, we cannot wait patiently for government institutions to lift the veils of secrecy. We have to open them ourselves as part of the democratic process. The courts already acknowledged that the world doesn't end when information is released, so we have to question the motivations behind the Fed's policy of secrecy and by extension the rationale of all government departments to resist disclosure.
After all that has been said and done, we still don't know whether the Fed was accepting unsuitable collateral to keep insolvent banks afloat. And we still don't know why the Fed and the Obama administration so strenuously protected the identities of the discount window borrowers. All of us stakeholders, especially the historians among us, might like to know who borrowed from the discount window from 1914 to 2008 as well. ----- Matthew Winkler is the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own. To contact the writer of this column: Matthew Winkler in New York at mwinkler@bloomberg.net.
Pass it on. RB
--- On Tue, 4/5/11, Rayburn Blair
My Letter: Bloomberg News Editor In Chief Mattew Winkler Dear Mr. Winkler Re. Your article on our Federal Reserve Bank bailing out Foreign Banks. Congratulate yourself on being the first and most perceptive journalist to realize something deviously anti-American about the FED's zipperless, buttonless cloak of secrecy. Now we know their real reason for insisting on "the necessity of absolute privacy to protect clients" is, in fact, a smoke screen to hide their "globalization of American wealth" secrets. So now that your "stick of dynamite" law suit has blown a large peep hole in the hingeless door of their Fuherbunker, surely your readers will expect a series of additionally scandalous revelations from inside the beast's lair. My mother said, "When you see one cockroach on the kitchen cabinet, a thousand more are in the walls." Dad put it this way, "For every crime a criminal is caught in, there are a hundred others he got away with." My point is, this one horror story, forcefully revealed, represents untold others still hidden from view of Americans robbed by the FED to bail out foreign banks. Another story yet to be written is their market manipulation of gold and silver prices and who knows what else. Thanks for your diligence and integrity in pursuing this story. Psm.115:1, Rayburn Blair
The Article:
Legacy of Fed Crisis Made It the People's Bank ..... By Michael Winkler Bloomberg News Thursday, March 31, 2011 Americans can take comfort knowing that Congress and the courts affirmed what may prove the most reassuring legacy of the worst financial disaster of our time: The Federal Reserve is the people's bank and is obligated to share what it knows and does with the citizenry it serves. When the Supreme Court last month decided to leave intact a lower court's order, it validated the notions that transparency is an essential requirement of democracy and that the Fed is no less accountable than any other institution in our government. The release yesterday of about 29,000 pages of data has already yielded insights. For example, a European bank, not an American one, was the biggest borrower from the discount window during the height of the 2008 panic. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) visited the discount window more often than it has disclosed. And the Bank of China Ltd. and Arab Banking Corp., a Bahrain-based bank controlled by the Libyan Central Bank, both tapped the window.
Congress, which last year carved an exemption for the Fed's discount window into its Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law, will now get a look at specific loans that went out through the window in 2008. This presents a second chance for lawmakers to require the central bank to disclose the collateral it accepted for those discount window loans during the financial crisis and for its lending through other programs. U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent who wrote most of the Fed transparency provisions in Dodd-Frank, has said the central bank should have already revealed more.
While an audit by the Government Accountability Office that's due in July may lead to additional disclosures, Congress should insist on them. More than two years after the fact, the public ought to know what sort of risks its central bank took when borrowers came to the lender of last resort. At stake is the individual's right to know how the public as involuntary investors provided loans to banks and in what amounts. How we reached this point can be attributed in no small way to a reporter's quest to share with his readers how the Fed, for the first time since its inception in 1913, created $2 trillion of assets and debts to bail out banks. After his repeated attempts to obtain this data were rebuffed, the late Mark Pittman, who reported on credit markets, sued the Fed through Bloomberg News' parent company under the Freedom of Information Act. The Fed initially said that U.S. citizens don't have the right to know these things and resisted all requests for an accounting under FOIA. When its lawyers went to court to prevent disclosure, federal Judge Loretta A. Preska of the Southern District of New York ruled that the central bank is obligated to release records of its lending on behalf of the taxpayer. The Fed took the case to the U.S. court of appeals in New York, which upheld Preska's ruling. The central bank declined to pursue its claim to the highest court, leaving it to the Clearing House Association, which represents the country's biggest commercial banks, to make the final appeal.
U.S. law, as the courts have defined it, says that central bank independence doesn't mean independent from the people. Independence means independent from the executive branch, not from Congress, which alone has the constitutional power to coin money. Congress delegates that power to the Federal Reserve. At some point long before financial markets collapsed in 2008, the Fed forgot that it is the central bank for the people of the United States and not a private academy where decisions of great importance may be withheld from public scrutiny.
The Obama administration, which paradoxically championed transparency in government when it came into office and then for two years supported the Fed in its resistance to be transparent, ultimately decided to let the lower court orders stand. Still, this reversal wasn't a sign that the administration was embracing the president's directive to "adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA." Instead, the solicitor general merely acknowledged that, in many ways, Congress had already settled the question. The showdown over transparency culminated in July with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act requiring the Fed to disclose its lending on a two-year lag from now on. That change, which institutionalized transparency, represents a turning point in the way the U.S. central bank does business, and begins a new era of accountability for the lender and its borrowers alike. For all its virtues, Dodd-Frank didn't require a public accounting of discount window lending during the financial crisis. Now, the courts have filled in that gap.
The public will get a view into how the Fed used public money to shore up banks that were struggling as a result of conditions the banks themselves helped create. Shareholders in banks where executives' poor decisions were, in part, papered over by the Fed's lending will be able to see just how important the discount window and the unusual steps taken to boost its lending beginning in August 2007 were to keeping their banks afloat. While the notion that no U.S. institution is above accountability has been affirmed, we cannot wait patiently for government institutions to lift the veils of secrecy. We have to open them ourselves as part of the democratic process. The courts already acknowledged that the world doesn't end when information is released, so we have to question the motivations behind the Fed's policy of secrecy and by extension the rationale of all government departments to resist disclosure.
After all that has been said and done, we still don't know whether the Fed was accepting unsuitable collateral to keep insolvent banks afloat. And we still don't know why the Fed and the Obama administration so strenuously protected the identities of the discount window borrowers. All of us stakeholders, especially the historians among us, might like to know who borrowed from the discount window from 1914 to 2008 as well. ----- Matthew Winkler is the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own. To contact the writer of this column: Matthew Winkler in New York at mwinkler@bloomberg.net.
Pass it on. RB
Boasting Wisdom Proves The Fool
Common Sense Commentary: "Professing themselves wise, they became fools." Rom.1:22
"The sociopaths' craving for power that rises like pond scum to positions of authority and becomes the societal cancer known as government can only be exorcised through an informed populace." (From Agora Financial's "Five Minute Forcast").
God created Civil Government as He did Marriage and His Church ... for the good welfare, safety and preservation of the human race not to be in bondage to any of the three. He is our Lord. Satan has corrupted and perverted all three to a great extent. RB
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." Boasting of one's wisdom, proves the absence of it. Boasting of physical traits reveals spiritual deformity. Boasting of material wealth exposes moral poverty. Spirituality without humility is a contradiction. Where there is no humility .... there is no spirituality. Where Jesus IS, vain pride and boasting ARE NOT. The lack of true integrity, honesty, purity and justice in Hollywood, Las Vegas and in Government is the absence of Christlike reverence of Jehovah God and the humility which always accompanies it.
Pass it on. RB
"The sociopaths' craving for power that rises like pond scum to positions of authority and becomes the societal cancer known as government can only be exorcised through an informed populace." (From Agora Financial's "Five Minute Forcast").
God created Civil Government as He did Marriage and His Church ... for the good welfare, safety and preservation of the human race not to be in bondage to any of the three. He is our Lord. Satan has corrupted and perverted all three to a great extent. RB
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." Boasting of one's wisdom, proves the absence of it. Boasting of physical traits reveals spiritual deformity. Boasting of material wealth exposes moral poverty. Spirituality without humility is a contradiction. Where there is no humility .... there is no spirituality. Where Jesus IS, vain pride and boasting ARE NOT. The lack of true integrity, honesty, purity and justice in Hollywood, Las Vegas and in Government is the absence of Christlike reverence of Jehovah God and the humility which always accompanies it.
Pass it on. RB
Apr 4, 2011
Are You A Fundamentalist, Moderate or Liberal ......as the term relates to believing in God & His Word ?
Common Sense Commentary: Like civilization, science, medicine and language, everything changes with time. Many words have taken on an entirely different meaning than what they meant hundreds of years ago. One example is the word "vulgar". Today it means nasty or indecent, whereas, it originally meant "unrefined or common". I speak today of the changes in meaning of the three words in my title ... "Fundamental, Moderate and Liberal."
I. Definitions: The following definitions are from Webster's Dictionary first copyrighted in 1916.
....1. "Liberal" = Two of Webster's seven definitions relate to "GENEROSITY". Five of the seven definitions relate to "LIFESTYLE" as follows: "Unrestricted, unrestrained, unchecked, licentious, villain, broad minded, lawless, and not bound by orthodox tenets ... or religious philosophy, and Not Conservative." My question to you: Other than being "generous", do you fit the descriptions of these five definitions of a "Liberal" as they relate to belief in God and His Word?
....2. Moderate= Webster says a Moderate is "Not excessive, restrained, not extreme in opinion." My question to you: Are you "Moderate" concerning belief in God and what the Bible plainly says? Are you "Moderate" on the truth of the Bible, on the virgin birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ? Which of these three temperatures reflect the word "Moderate," Hot, Cold, or Warm ? Jesus spoke to this question in Lk.3:15-16 "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."
....3. Fundamentalist= Webster defines "Fundamental" thusly, "Of or pertaining to the foundation, basis or essential part of a thing. A principle law or article which serves as the groundwork of a system; an essential principal component. An emphasis as fundamental to Christian belief in the inerrancy of the Scriptures, Biblical miracles, especially the virgin birth and physical resurrection of Christ, etc." Roget's International Thesaurus lists synonyms of "fundamental" as: Nouns=principle, foundational, salient point. And Adjectives= essential, original, basic, vital.
II. Final Questions: Here are three of those essential, original, basic, vital, Final Questions:
....1. Are you a Fundamentalist concerning the Inerrancy of the Scriptures, Virgin Birth and physical Resurrection of Christ ?
....2. Have you accepted God's Biblical record in answer to the question in Lk.16:30-31 ..."What must I do to be saved?" and the answer came back, "Believe on the Lord (master) Jesus (Saviour) Christ (Messiah) and thou shalt be saved." Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Master, Saviour, Messiah?
....3. Are you a Fundamentalist or a Moderate or a Liberal concerning Honesty, Truth, Marital Faithfulness, God, Jesus and the Bible ? Do you believe some things are essential to a person being a Christian? Your answers reveal who and what you are .... not to me but before God. I am an Essentialist ! What is that? It is a Fundamentalist !
Pass it on. RB
I. Definitions: The following definitions are from Webster's Dictionary first copyrighted in 1916.
....1. "Liberal" = Two of Webster's seven definitions relate to "GENEROSITY". Five of the seven definitions relate to "LIFESTYLE" as follows: "Unrestricted, unrestrained, unchecked, licentious, villain, broad minded, lawless, and not bound by orthodox tenets ... or religious philosophy, and Not Conservative." My question to you: Other than being "generous", do you fit the descriptions of these five definitions of a "Liberal" as they relate to belief in God and His Word?
....2. Moderate= Webster says a Moderate is "Not excessive, restrained, not extreme in opinion." My question to you: Are you "Moderate" concerning belief in God and what the Bible plainly says? Are you "Moderate" on the truth of the Bible, on the virgin birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ? Which of these three temperatures reflect the word "Moderate," Hot, Cold, or Warm ? Jesus spoke to this question in Lk.3:15-16 "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."
....3. Fundamentalist= Webster defines "Fundamental" thusly, "Of or pertaining to the foundation, basis or essential part of a thing. A principle law or article which serves as the groundwork of a system; an essential principal component. An emphasis as fundamental to Christian belief in the inerrancy of the Scriptures, Biblical miracles, especially the virgin birth and physical resurrection of Christ, etc." Roget's International Thesaurus lists synonyms of "fundamental" as: Nouns=principle, foundational, salient point. And Adjectives= essential, original, basic, vital.
II. Final Questions: Here are three of those essential, original, basic, vital, Final Questions:
....1. Are you a Fundamentalist concerning the Inerrancy of the Scriptures, Virgin Birth and physical Resurrection of Christ ?
....2. Have you accepted God's Biblical record in answer to the question in Lk.16:30-31 ..."What must I do to be saved?" and the answer came back, "Believe on the Lord (master) Jesus (Saviour) Christ (Messiah) and thou shalt be saved." Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Master, Saviour, Messiah?
....3. Are you a Fundamentalist or a Moderate or a Liberal concerning Honesty, Truth, Marital Faithfulness, God, Jesus and the Bible ? Do you believe some things are essential to a person being a Christian? Your answers reveal who and what you are .... not to me but before God. I am an Essentialist ! What is that? It is a Fundamentalist !
Pass it on. RB
Apr 1, 2011
An April Fool Is No Joke. Full Time Biblical Fools
Common Sense Commentary: Mother would not ever let us use the word ... FOOL. The word "fool" has a certain caustic, cold, cutting edge to it. Jesus cautioned against calling anyone a fool. We don't win people to Christ by calling them names, but He used the word several times in dealing with the real hard cases. But, God can do a lot of things we can't do. In fact He can do anything He wants that is not contrary to His Holy Character which He doesn't want to do anyway. He cannot lie (Titus 1:2) or sin (1Jn.5:18). Though we should not call anyone a fool, the word IS in the Bible so we can use it when quoting God's Word. I use it here only in that way. Let me share ten different Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) words all translated "fool" but each having a somewhat different meaning.
OLD TESTAMENT HEBREW:
I...... First is the Heb. word meaning "evil" in Prov.12:15-16 "The way of a fool (is) right in his own eyes." No matter how evil the things he does, "That's just me" he says. In v.16 "A fools wrath is presently known." However pleasant and congenial he may appear to be, his temper is explosive and dangerous. He is a sociopath.
II.....Halal, meaning "boaster or braggart" in Psm.75:4 "I said unto the fools...." (now paraphrasing) "Stop blowing the trumpet for your own haughty entrance."
III...Kesil, meaning "the confidence of ignorance" How so? Prov.29:11 "A fool uttereth all his mind." He says aloud everything that crosses his mind. End result... Prov.18:7 " A fool's mouth is his destruction."
IV....Nabal, meaning "an empty person" Psm.14:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." He may confess God with his lips but deny God in his heart. He is "empty".
V......Sakal, meaning "thickheaded blabber mouth" Ecc.10:3 & 14 (paraphrased) "When a fool walks among people and opens his mouth, everyone in town knows he is a fool before he arrives at his destination." He has no control of his tongue.
NEW TESTAMENT GREEK:
I.......Anoetos, meaning "shallow thinker". Prov.24:25 "Fools are slow of heart to believe all (that the Bible says) parenthesis ( ) Paraphrased.
II......Asophos, meaning "unwise". Eph.5:15 "See that ye walk (in God's will) not as fools, but as wise." "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who give to all liberally...." James 1:5
III....Aphron, meaning "witless, imperception" Lk.12:20 "You fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be?" God is telling this successful, wealthy man who was obsessed with his wealth that he was going to die unsaved that night and leave all his wealth and possessions behind for others to spend and use. A wasted life is a fool's game.
IV......Moros, meaning "to rebel, non compliant". 1 Cor.4:10 "We are fools for Christ's sake...." That is to say, we do not submit to political correctness or compromise what is right for what is wrong or call evil good and good evil or obey any man or law which contradicts God's law or God's Word. In a word, Christlikeness.
V.......Moraino, meaning "to make a fool of yourself" Rom.1:22 "Professing themselves to be wise they became fools." The primary example is an educated person, professing himself to be wiser than others, says with passion, "There is no God".
Pass it on. RB
OLD TESTAMENT HEBREW:
I...... First is the Heb. word meaning "evil" in Prov.12:15-16 "The way of a fool (is) right in his own eyes." No matter how evil the things he does, "That's just me" he says. In v.16 "A fools wrath is presently known." However pleasant and congenial he may appear to be, his temper is explosive and dangerous. He is a sociopath.
II.....Halal, meaning "boaster or braggart" in Psm.75:4 "I said unto the fools...." (now paraphrasing) "Stop blowing the trumpet for your own haughty entrance."
III...Kesil, meaning "the confidence of ignorance" How so? Prov.29:11 "A fool uttereth all his mind." He says aloud everything that crosses his mind. End result... Prov.18:7 " A fool's mouth is his destruction."
IV....Nabal, meaning "an empty person" Psm.14:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." He may confess God with his lips but deny God in his heart. He is "empty".
V......Sakal, meaning "thickheaded blabber mouth" Ecc.10:3 & 14 (paraphrased) "When a fool walks among people and opens his mouth, everyone in town knows he is a fool before he arrives at his destination." He has no control of his tongue.
NEW TESTAMENT GREEK:
I.......Anoetos, meaning "shallow thinker". Prov.24:25 "Fools are slow of heart to believe all (that the Bible says) parenthesis ( ) Paraphrased.
II......Asophos, meaning "unwise". Eph.5:15 "See that ye walk (in God's will) not as fools, but as wise." "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who give to all liberally...." James 1:5
III....Aphron, meaning "witless, imperception" Lk.12:20 "You fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be?" God is telling this successful, wealthy man who was obsessed with his wealth that he was going to die unsaved that night and leave all his wealth and possessions behind for others to spend and use. A wasted life is a fool's game.
IV......Moros, meaning "to rebel, non compliant". 1 Cor.4:10 "We are fools for Christ's sake...." That is to say, we do not submit to political correctness or compromise what is right for what is wrong or call evil good and good evil or obey any man or law which contradicts God's law or God's Word. In a word, Christlikeness.
V.......Moraino, meaning "to make a fool of yourself" Rom.1:22 "Professing themselves to be wise they became fools." The primary example is an educated person, professing himself to be wiser than others, says with passion, "There is no God".
Pass it on. RB
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