Jun 8, 2014

Finally, A Major U.S. Newspaper Tells The Truth About Obama Catastrophe

Common Sense Commentary: In the order of their priority, who or what is primarily responsibility for the Obama Catastrophe? It is not Obama! If we had had an absolute lunatic running for President, it would not have been his fault if he was elected. It would have been the fault of the same entities who got an absolute diabolical, anti-America, Pro-Islamic, profuse liar elected. His previous words and actions proved him to be those very things, but the majority of Americans paid no attention to the facts. Why? That is the question. The answer in order of priority are these:

1. The Major News Media who wanted a black, Socialist, amoral, anti-American elected to weaken our Constitution and change the historic course of our country to their agenda.

2. The Democrat Party who allowed their lust for power, Liberal ideology, Socialism and their platform for homosexual marriage, all forms of abortion, unfair taxation of middle America, Liberal drug laws and cancellation of laws against illegal emigration, and more welfare and other federal subsidies.

3. Establishment, RINO Republicans who through cowardice, refused to attack Obama's known record and his unknown sealed history. They demanded not so much as a birth certificate or unsealing of his past records of every sort.

4. Preachers who hid behind the pulpit and would not preach against Obama's anti-Bible positions on homosexual marriage, abortion, his atheistic Communistic chosen friends, his anti-American Pastor Wright, his history of illegal drug abuse, his expressed desire to radically change the Constitution and the historic course of America. 

5. The Christians and political Conservatives who did not bother to even vote. 

That is where the responsibility lies, in that order, in my opinion. RB

But, finally, a major U.S. Newspaper speaks up ... and loudly.

Chickens come home to roost for Obama

  From the New York Post


Today’s quiz: What do Vladimir Putin’s aggression and ObamaCare’s troubles have in common? OK, that was too easy.
It is impossible to dismiss as mere coincidence the Russian Bear’s invasion of Ukraine and the continuing mayhem of the Affordable Care Act. In their own ways, each reflects the full flowering of the policies of Barack Obama.
His chickens are coming home to roost, and what a mess they are making.
Obama’s sixth year in the White House is shaping up as his worst, and that’s saying something. He’s been in the Oval Office so long that it is obscene to blame his problems on George W. Bush, the weather or racism. Obama owns the world he made, or more accurately, the world he tried to remake.
Nothing important has worked as promised, and there is every reason to believe the worst is yet to come. The president’s casual remark the other day that he worries about “a nuclear weapon ­going off in Manhattan” inadvertently reflected the fear millions of Americans have about his leadership. Not necessarily about a bomb, but about where he is taking the country.
We are racing downhill and he is stepping on the gas. Will he stop before the nation crashes?
Ideologues love to dream, and some do it eloquently. Robert Kennedy famously said: “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why . . . I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”
Mario Cuomo, no slouch at dreaming, nonetheless offered a caveat, saying, “You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose.”
Obama hasn’t figured out the difference. Even more alarming, he shows no signs of trying to learn. In the ways of the world, he remains a know-it-all rookie.
The view from his faculty lounge has no space for reality. Anything that doesn’t fit the grand plan is dismissed as illegitimate. So while global hot spots multiply and the world grows dangerously unstable, the president still plans to slash the military.
His trip abroad last week further secured his reputation for historic ineptitude. It wasn’t that the trip was a disaster — it never rose to that level. His presence and his promises simply made no difference.
He failed to move the European Union toward a firmer stance on Russia, created bizarre headlines by differing with the Vatican over what he and the pope discussed, and got not-so-veiled threats from the Saudis about Syria and Iran.
He could have stayed home and not done worse.
No president can win ’em all, but Obama’s foreign-policy record is unblemished by success. From east to west and north to south, America’s standing and influence have declined universally.
It is impossible for a US president to be irrelevant, but Obama is testing the proposition.
The frequent reports that Putin laughs when Obama warns of consequences can’t be far from the truth. Otherwise, Putin would be cautious instead of carving up neighbors and massing his military. It was also noteworthy that, after their Friday phone talk, ­Putin copied the Vatican and put out his own version of the discussion. Two can play the spin game, he seemed to be saying.
ObamaCare is the domestic expression of the president’s ineptitude. The law that was supposed to fix health care has become a problem for millions, and now enjoys mere 26 percent approval, a poll finds. It is proving so unworkable that the White House has given up defending it as written and instead simply changes key provisions when they prove impossible to implement or politically inconvenient.
Change No. 38 came when officials extended the March 31 deadline for signing up. Never mind that those same officials said recently there would be no extension, and that the law wouldn’t allow it.
Presto — the limits on his power are moot because the president says so. Meanwhile, aides claim they don’t know how many of the 6 million who enrolled actually paid for insurance.
A Caesar at home and a Chamberlain abroad, Obama manages to simultaneously provoke fury and ridicule. He bullies critics here while shrinking from adversaries there.
He divides the country and unites the world against us, ­diminishing the nation in both ways. His reign of error can’t end soon enough, nor can it end well.

Jun 7, 2014

The Powers That Be, Seen And Unseen, Are Rebuilding Nimrod's Tower Of Unity

Common Sense Commentary: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Eph.6:12. 


It was God's original intent, after the destruction of the "evil" and rebellious people of the whole world, with a flood, that  the three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth, their wives and descendants, should divide and scatter throughout the earth into three primary nationalities and many subordi-nations, or branches off of the original three. However, the next thing recorded in the Bible, is the rise in power of a descendant of Ham (dark), named Nimrod (strong). "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel...." Gen.10:10. That 10th chapter of Genesis is the genealogies of the three sons of Noah, and concludes with v.32 ...."These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood." 

The very next chapter records these scattering nations turning back to reunite as the original United Nations, under the powerful leadership of Nimrod, at Babel. 
"And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. " Gen.11:1-9.

After God forced differing languages upon the separate nations, their confusion, distrust and prejudice against all "foreigners", who "didn't know how to talk right", was a barrier, accomplishing effectively God's purpose, acompli effectue. Thus the Establishment of clearly separated nations, nationalities and languages was quite well maintained. For centuries after God had scattered the nations and confused the languages between nationalities, at Babel, the only things that preserved a pseudo "pure" race of people were obstacles. Such things as differing languages, religions, seas, rivers, mountain ranges, jungles, deserts or distances defined their borders. Difficulty of travel was also an obstacle, as well as fear or hatred of strange speaking outsiders. This general autonomic separation of nations was pretty well locked in place until wars, ships and trade began to neutralize borders over the years.

The nearest thing today to a "pure" race would be the Orthodox Jews who maintain religious separation, or maybe Australian Aborigines or other such isolated races of people. Most of the rest of the world has long since become a mixture of races. There are very few people in America, Europe, most of Asia, Russia and South America who have less than three or four different blood nationalities in their veins.

Because of the international breaking down of borders, obstacles, languages, distances, and religions ... and that compounded by hi-tech communications, transportation and globalization, most of the world is becoming homogeneous or homogenized into One World Citizens. Today, we have a World Bank, Bank of International Settlements, International Trade, Multi-National Corporations, International Monetary System, International Law, The United Nations, International Space Agreements, World Health Organization, World Weapons Control, Global Central Planners and hundreds of other world-wide unification organizations. If you say Muslim nations are not co-operating with this, they are, and expect to be in control of it in a few years. They already hold majority power or a balance of power in many African, European, and various other nations.

It is an obvious fact, overlooked or ignored by most Americans, that we are headed at the maximum speed, which will not awaken the sleepers, into the Kingdom of Anti-Christ. I don't like it and hate to see our Republic go down that drain, and unsaved people to a worse fate, but the remedy ... the return of Christ and the Rapture, will remove every true Christian from the scene.  Take your fearful eyes off the dirt, death and destruction and look up and forward ... to our Lord and His second coming ... for you ... and me. Think on Jesus, and put your hope in Him. That's the best medicine for all that ails the human race. RB

Jun 6, 2014

Was The First Thief Already Condemned And The Second Thief Already Saved?

Common Sense Commentary: While Jesus hung on the cross he said seven last things. This blog will deal with the first two of the seven.

In those last days before His crucifixion, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, who led the mob to take Him prisoner in Gethsemane. From there they led Him before Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest, and the Jewish Sanhedrin Court, which had not the authority to execute Him, under Roman Law. So they dispatched Jesus to the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate for Roman judgement and execution. Pilate didn't want to stir the political or religious waters so he sent Jesus to the half-breed, Jewish, King Herod, the Roman appointed King of the Jews ... under the Roman Caesar. King Herod, though a cruel and treasonous Jew, collaborating with the Romans, didn't want to stir up a rebellion among Jesus' Jewish followers, either, so he sent Jesus back to the Roman Governor, Pontious Pilate. Pilate's wife begged him not to get involved, but the Jewish leaders and their henchmen demanded the Roman Governor put Jesus to death. Though he knew Jesus was innocent, Pilate acquiesced and crucified Jesus on a Roman cross between two convicted, condemned thieves, to make Jesus appear to be equally guilty of something. Luke 23:33. Here begins the first of the seven last sayings of Jesus ...

Luke 23:34 "Then said Jesus ...
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Jeremiah prophesied, "...They know not the way of the LORD...." Jer.5:4
Apostle Paul declared, "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." Eph.4:18.

But that is the point. They were lost sinners, "alienated from God, spiritually ignorant and blind" and Jesus had come to open their eyes and hearts, forgive them and save them from the darkness in them. He loved them and was dying to save them; so He asked His Father to "forgive them for they know not what they do."

Five verses later, having heard that prayer, of Jesus, one of the thieves, in his own sin darkened heart, reviled Jesus and said, "IF you are the Christ (Messiah) save yourself and us." v.39.  But the second thief's faith is revealed by his response to the first thief...  "But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Lk.23:40-42. This second thief already feared God, admitted he was guilty and deserved his punishment, but also knew that Jesus was guiltless, addressed Jesus as his "Lord", and knew that Jesus would resurrect and establish a kingdom. In FAITH, he said to Jesus, "Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." I repeat ... he confessed his guilt to the first thief, feared God already, knew that Jesus was innocent, and addressed Jesus as his Lord. He did not ask Jesus to "forgive" him or to "save" him,  but simply said, "Remember me".  If that man was not already saved, his was the shortest prayer of faith, for salvation, I have ever heard. "Lord, remember me...." Jesus responded to that man's simple prayer of faith with this short promise .... I can only conclude that this man had probably been recently saved... already.

"...To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Lk.23:43.  How simple it is ... and how difficult we make it. I can only conclude that this man had probably... already been saved. Jesus  had just prayed for the forgiveness of His crucifiers and mockers, not for these two thieves. Did He know their fates were already sealed?

Jesus had not tried to convince or convert these two thieves. Why? Did He already know the one would not accept Him anyway, and be saved, and the other was already saved?

The unbelieving thief did not fear God, did not pray, did not confess his guilt, but "reviled" Jesus and doubted His Messiahship (Christ) and His power to deliver them either physically and spiritually. Jesus knew  that thief's heart and whether he would believe and repent or not.

The believing thief sounds like he was already a believer in Jesus. He already "feared" God, he confessed his own guilt to the other thief, not to Jesus or to God, at that particular time. He already knew Jesus was innocent. He addressed Jesus as his "Lord", and knew about His kingdom, and simply asked Jesus to  ...."Remember me".

Christ's response to the believing thief was, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." "Today", of course, meant that very day, not when the trumpet sounds at the resurrection, and not "At Jesus' second coming", but "Today". Since their three bodies still hung on those crosses after they died, and then were buried, Jesus had to mean that His, and the believing thief's spirits would be together in Paradise immediately after their physical deaths, when their spirits departed their bodies... and it was so. Now, if this believing thief was, in fact, already saved, was he saved before his theft or after his theft? It doesn't say. He may have been saved while in prison. But if you take the position that "if he had already been saved before the theft, he wouldn't have stolen something", then you believe in sinless perfection as a requirement for salvation and then for keeping your salvation.
So the question becomes, are we saved and kept saved by our good works or lack of bad works or, as Paul reminded the Ephesians ..."For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph.2:8-9. 

If you are confused ...."Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 
2 Tim.2:15. RB



Jun 5, 2014

Obama Traded 5 Muslim Terrorists For One US Army Traitor Who Now Wants To Come Back Home. What?

Common Sense Commentary: Has there been a single word, Executive Order or Political Action out of this President, since he took office, that made him look Presidential or even qualified to run a hot dog stand. His Presidential Record matches his previous accomplishments ... ZERO, in fact, Minus ZERO.  Can anyone name one solitary thing he has done or said which has not backfired in his face, or blasted the face of America?  This unbelievable transaction is so ridiculous as to boggle the mind. Even Joe Biden, the King's duncie, left hand man, wouldn't do something this stupid. How can a sane President defend such lunacy?  Harry Reid  also thinks it was a good deal. His reaction to the Bergdahl/ Taliban trade was as weird as the President's action.. Reid equivocated, "I'm Glad to Get Rid of These Five People". What kind of mental gymnastics is that? Those five proven terrorists are now free in Muslimville looking for their next assignment to blow innocent Americans to Kingdom Come. What does Senator Harry Reid mean "I'm glad to be rid" of them. Harry, we are not now rid of them. We were "rid of them" while they were in prison. We did not liquidate them. We have not heard the last of them. They are released, ravaging tigers. Their pawprints will be on new terror attacks here, there and everywhere until they blow themselves up or we have to hunt them down again  and more of our troops die in the process, or another 9/11 takes place. What kind of reasoning or logic is there in such observations on the part of  the Senate Majority Leader. Obama traded five sworn terrorists for a US Army deserter/traitor who went over to the Muslim terrorists. This is the caliber of idiots running our country into the scrap heap of  lost empires.  Literally EVERYTHING these people do undermines our nation ... in some way. It is so pervasive that it cannot be accidental. If they, themselves, are not willfully, knowingly destroying our country, they are being controlled by the diabolical powers which are. If you don't know the Greek word diabolikos ... it means "Devilish or the Devil". The "powers of darkness" seem to possess this entire Administration,  the majority of the majority party and even much of the minority party. If you don't see the Biblical "Last Days Signs" in all of this, you must see the conspiratorial nature of it or at least the stupidity of it. If you don't see one or the other ... you are, yourself part of the problem. There are only two sides in the Battle Of The Ages .... The Devil against God, Evil against Good, Error against Truth .... All of us are on one side or the other. I vote for Jesus. RB

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Eph.6:12.

Jun 4, 2014

"Tallahassee Tea Partyer" Has A Certain Sterling Ring To It

Common Sense Commentary: Knowing the Tallahassee Democrat Newspaper well, having butted heads with them dozens of times over my 30 years of pastoring a church there, this article was a pleasant surprise. Could this newspaper be turning the extreme Liberal corner and heading back toward sanity, or at least toward the middle of the political spectrum, where is neutrality, and where a newspaper is supposed to be? RB

Floridians should be wary of marijuana legalization

By Mike Milburn, Montana Legislator
From The Tallahassee Democrat
(Keep publishing articles like this and you will be known as The Tallahassee Tea Partyer. RB)

In spite of the widespread effort to normalize marijuana, Montana knows firsthand the societal problems it can cause.

In effect, this crusade of acceptability has undone years of “zero tolerance” and the “drug free” campaign in our schools and communities.

Most legalizers agree that marijuana is dangerous for adolescents and argue that it will still be illegal for them. But it’s those young adults the industry targets. They are the primary users, consuming the majority of illegal drugs, and they suffer the most from its long term consequences.

Montana passed an initiative to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. The industry exploded and became a multimillion-dollar operation. By 2011, Montana had the sixth-highest rate of youth marijuana use in the country and the fourth-highest rate of youth addiction.

As a state legislator I was inundated with complaints from cities, towns, communities, law enforcement officials, treatment centers and schools about disruption, safety, crime, dropout rates, students stoned and apathetic toward school and life in general.

This new enterprise was making drugs so familiar and acceptable that it was changing Montana’s culture. Montanans felt duped.

I heard of growers destroying neighborhoods, reducing the values of homes through the foul language, harassment and stench of crowds at the dispensaries. Parents complained that kids could not play in their own yards. Multiple dispensaries set up near schools, targeting our youth.

Students wrote asking who was defending their rights to a safe, drug-free school. They wanted their friends back.

Major industries in Montana were unable to find job applicants who didn’t test positive for drugs.

Montana’s chief of narcotics testified, “The current situation is a public health and safety disaster as well as a law enforcement nightmare ... and an embarrassment to Montana on a national level.” He said Montana was growing so much marijuana it had become a “source country” for illegal export of the drug. Organized crime moved in, and members of one of the world’s largest outlaw motorcycle gangs were involved in running drugs to their East Coast counterparts. Our surrounding states did not consider us good neighbors.

The 2011 Montana legislature reined in the exploding marijuana industry, curbing commercial grows.

The Office of National Drug Policy recently stated that the “confusing messages being presented by popular culture, media, proponents of ‘medical’ marijuana, and political campaigns to legalize all marijuana perpetuate the false notion that marijuana is harmless.”

Marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in treatment. The Drug Enforcement Agency reports that, where marijuana laws have been relaxed throughout the world, marijuana usage and addiction rates go up. That was certainly the case in Montana.

THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, chemically acts on specific molecular targets in brain cells called cannabinoid receptors, part of a neural communication network. It replaces the natural reward system in the brain, the same as other addictive drugs. Extensive medical research has shown marijuana affects brain development of this network when used regularly by young people and can cause permanent cognitive damage and also permanently reduce IQ.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports the negative effects of marijuana can last for days or weeks after the acute effects wear off, and “someone who smokes marijuana daily may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level most or all of the time.” A grave concern when you think of an impaired surgeon, airline pilot or heavy equipment operator.

It’s no surprise that increased marijuana use is associated with lower grades, higher dropout rates, increased absences and tardiness in school and the workplace, work-related accidents, compensation claims, job turnovers and crime. There’s an illogical deluge of propaganda out there. Facts tend to get shouted down by those pressing for legalization. It leaves one to wonder if we are not only losing the war on drugs but the war on common sense.

Mike Milburn was a Montana state representative from 2005-2012 and was speaker of the Montana House of Representatives in 2011 and 2012.



Not Just Another Obama Scandal ... A National Disgrace

Common Sense Commentary: The Veterans Administration is not run by the Military or the Secretary of Defence, it is run by the Secretary Of The Department Of Veterans Affairs, a cabinet level post controlled by President Obama. So our national healthcare, including veterans who qualify for VA medical services, and the struggling, new National Obamacare Program, and all areas of medicine are under the control of our President. Considering the clear record of functional, and financial failure of all other government run federal programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Federal Housing, Food Stamps, Welfare, the U.S. Postal Service, Foreign Affairs, the IRS, and all the rest, it is a bit difficult to continue to trust the President, the Congress and Gov.Bureaucrats in general. RB


.Veterans scandal risks engulfing Obama
From U.S. Politics And Policy
By Geoff Dyer in Washington


US soldiers, along with Afghan Local Police (ALP), climb a hillock to access the Surech check post during a patrol in Kush Kunar District in the province of Nangarhar©AFP
Amid contrived outrage over Benghazi and the improving fortunes of its healthcare reform, the Obama administration could be facing a genuine scandal about its treatment of military veterans that has the potential to attract broad political condemnation of its competence.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is facing mounting evidence that some of the hospitals it runs have been keeping two sets of books to make it look as if they were reducing waiting times to see a doctor.

More damning, the department is investigating the claims of a whistleblower doctor in Arizona that dozens of patients at one hospital died while they were languishing on a hidden waiting list without ever being given an appointment.
Richard Griffin, the department’s acting inspector general, admitted on Thursday that its review could lead to criminal charges. In the first political casualty of the scandal, Robert Petzel, the department’s undersecretary for heath, resigned on Friday.
If the evidence of mismanagement continues to accumulate, the Obama administration will find itself not in another partisan knife-fight, but under fire from both parties in a Congress where the uniformed military is venerated.
The veterans’ healthcare scandal is, in part, one of the unintended consequences of the wars in Afghanistan in Iraq, which have created “our 9/11 generation who have served with honour in more than a decade of war,” as President Barack Obama described them on Thursday.
More than 970,000 veterans from those wars have filed disability claims, taking the total enrolled in the VA system to 8.57m by the end of 2012.
At the same time, the healthcare system is dealing with the fact that many of the 6m veterans from the Vietnam era are now reaching the age when they start to require a lot of medical services. In 2010, the administration expanded coverage to exposure from Agent Orange, the chemical used during the war in Vietnam, prompting another surge of claimants.
The result has been a constant struggle to meet new demands, despite big spending increases. The budget for the VA has risen from $73.1bn in 2006 to $153.8bn this year. However, the number of outpatient visits at its facilities has increased from 46.5m in 2002 to 83.6m in 2012. “I am amazed this is still happening, given the big increase in resources that the department has received,” said Phillip Carter, a former army officer who researches veterans’ issues at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.
I am amazed this is still happening, given the big increase in resources that the department has received
- Phillip Carter, Center for a New American Security
The VA, which runs 152 hospitals and 817 outpatient clinics, has long suffered from delays and a dysfunctional bureaucracy. In 2010, it introduced a new appointments system which promised a 14-day wait for an appointment with a primary care doctor or a specialist.
While there have been reports for several years that the new waiting line system was being abused, the subject really began to gather steam three weeks ago when CNN interviewed Sam Foote, who had recently retired as a doctor after working for 24 years for VA hospitals in Phoenix, Arizona.
He said that as many as 40 patients had died after being placed on a hidden waiting list that could last for up to a year, while officials at the hospital shredded documents and faked evidence to make it seem as if waiting times were under control.
Three officials in Phoenix have been put on leave, although Mr Griffin said there was no evidence yet that patients had died because of delayed appointments.
Since then, whistleblowers have alleged similar practices at least seven other VA hospitals around the country and claimed that officials at the hospitals were sometimes paid bonuses for reducing declared waiting times.

The political impact of the scandal has been somewhat muted so far, in part because of the respect still enjoyed by the veterans affairs secretary, retired four-star general Eric Shinseki who was himself wounded twice in Vietnam. Appearing before a Senate hearing on Thursday, Mr Shinseki received pointed questioning, but in a tone more respectful than almost any other cabinet member would have encountered. “I am mad as hell,” he told the committee.
However, if Congress concludes that efforts to manipulate waiting lists have become systemic – or if the allegations that patients died while waiting for phantom appointments are proved – Mr Shinseki will face huge pressure from both parties to resign.
Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator for Connecticut, said there was “solid evidence of wrongdoing within the VA system”, while his colleague from Washington Patty Murray told Mr Shinseki: “The standard practice at the VA seems to be to hide the truth.”
In a sign of how serious the White House believes the political fallout could become, the president’s deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors has been dispatched to the VA to help manage the fallout.



Jun 2, 2014

The Pre-emence Of Agape Love

Common Sense Commentary:

There are basically two Greek words translated "love", in the New Testament. Each is used both as a noun and as a verb. The first is the Greek word Phileo, which is human love for a spouse, child, friend. relative, or a thing. This word literally means, "I really do like or care for you deeply". Philadelphia means, that kind of "brotherly love". A philanthropist loves humanity with that kind of love ...phileo love. The second Greek word translated "love or charity", in the New Testament, is the word "agape or agapeo", which means  "a deep, pure, holy, Godly love." The best contrast, between the two types of  love, that I know of, is in John 21:15-17. Before Christ's Crucifixion, Simon Peter had sworn to Jesus that though everyone else forsook and denied Him, he, Peter, would not.... but he did... several times. After His resurrection, Jesus met with his Apostles, and had this conversation with Peter: "Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest (agape love) thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love (phileo love) thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest (agape love) thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love (phileo love) thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas,  lovest (philoe love) thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest (philoe love) thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love (philoe love) thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep." John 21:15-17. 

To paraphrase the conversation, Jesus was saying to Peter, "You promised me that though all the other Apostles denied me, you would not, but you did. So do you still think you love (agape) me more than they? Peter answered, Lord you know I like (philoe) you a lot.... to which Jesus responded, But do you love (agapo) me Peter? Again Peter answered, Lord, you know everything... you know I really do like (philoe) you. Then Jesus asked him the third time, So you like (philoe) me a lot Peter? This grieved Peter's heart, but he was so ashamed of his earlier denial, that he agreed, Yes Lord I really do like (philoe) you. Notice that Jesus did not take Peter's Apostleship away from him but said to him, "Feed my sheep". Peter's love was faulty ... Jesus' love was not. Our love is faulty ... His is not.

That iron willed, uncompromising Apostle Paul emphasized, to the Ephesian Church, the absolute essential, of agape love, in Christian service ... "Speak the truth ... in love (agape) ", he said. It should be all too obvious to every Christian that all effective Christian service is based of agape love, whatever ministry it is.

Agape love is the Mega Command of God.
After both the Sadducees and Pharisees had failed to trick Jesus into saying something which would drive a wedge between Him and those who came out to hear and see him, they sent a Pharisee lawyer to ask Jesus a  more controversial question. "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love (agape) the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love (agape) thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt.22:35-40. The Pharisees were expecting Jesus to name one of the ten commandments. Instead, He summed up the first half of the ten commandments, which have to do with man's relationship God, into one commandment... "Love God", the first and greatest commandment. Then he summed up the last half of the commandments, which have to do with man's relationship with other people into one commandment ... Love Other People, the second greatest commandment. Jesus concluded by telling them that "all the law and the prophets" the entire Old Testament hung on those two commandments.

Agape love is the very meaning of 
the Law of God
".... love one another: for he that loveth (agape) another hath fulfilled the law." Rom.13:8. 

Agape love is the New Testament 
Commandment 
Jesus himself said it .... "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." John 13:34.

Agape love is the Message of the ages
"For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." 
1 John 3:11. In the very next chapter, John 4, "agape love" is mentioned 27 times in 12 verses. One of those verses reveals agape love as the very essence of who God is....

Agape love is the very essence of God
 "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16.

Agape love is the first listed Fruit of the 
Holy spirit
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love ...." Gal. 5:22.
Do not overlook the fact that agape love is not one of the "gifts of the Holy Spirit". Agape love is a "fruit of the Spirit" and is equally available to every Christian, unlike the "gifts of the Spirit" which are given individually to each Christian as God sees fit. If you are a true Christian, the Spirit of God, of Jesus, lives in you. Literally, "God" lives in you, and if God lives in you, agape love lives in you. If it does not show, you are covering it up or sin is covering it up, but it is there ... if God is there. Uncover it, open it up and let it out.

Agape love is the more excellent way
In 1 Cor.12, all the gifts of the Spirit are listed, tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith and several others,  as well as the various offices of Christ's church. First were 12 Apostles, second Prophets, Teachers and so on.  Then the chapter concludes with  v.31 "But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way." 
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (agape love), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (agape love), I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (agape love), it profiteth me nothing." 1 Cor. 13:1-3. Agape love is a "more excellent way" than even the gifts of miracles, faith, preaching, martyrdom, Apostleship or anything else. Then this chapter concludes with these facts comparing agape love to any and all of the gifts of the spirit. 
"Charity (agape) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away....And now abideth faith, hope, charity (agape love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (agape love). 1 Cor.13:8-13. 


Agape love is the Example Jesus left us to follow
"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." John 15:12 


Agape love is Heaven's Royal Law
"If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well." James 2:8 
Counseling a husband and wife, many years ago, the husband said, "I don't love her; I can't love her." I said, "Then obey James 2:8 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor'. She is your nearest neighbor. Love her as your neighbor." His response to that was, "I love my neighbor; he's a great friend, but she hates me." So, I said, "Then obey Jesus words in Matt.5:44, 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you ....' Love her as your enemy. Turning to the wife, I asked, "Are you sure you are a Christian?" "Yes", she said, "I know I'm a Christian, but he's a couch potato and won't bathe or brush his teeth, and he stinks." I responded ,"God may be testing your obedience. Your husband may be your Mission Field. Missionaries, leave the comforts of home to go into deepest Africa to minister to little Pygmy people who don't bath or brush their teeth either, but the missionary loves them for Jesus. Maybe your husband is your Mission field ... Do you see what I mean?" "Yes", she said, "He's a Pygmy."


Agape love Supersedes every other attribute
"And above all things have fervent charity (agape love) among yourselves: for charity (agape) shall cover the multitude of sins." 1 Pet.4:8.

Agape love is the Christian's assurance of salvation
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." 1 John 3:14.

Agape love is the Christian's Identification Mark
 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:35 

Agape love is God's Finished Work in Christians
"And above all these things put on charity (agape), which is the bond of perfectness." Col.3:14. 
The Hebrew word translated "perfectness", in this verse, means and is translated "finished" in Heb.12:2.
The word "bond", here, is a seal. Agape love is God's seal on a finished work. We are not perfect (finished) yet, but God's agape love in us is perfect in whatever measure it may be. But that agape presence of God's Holy Spirit in us is our seal of salvation and our guarantee of resurrection, ascension and absolute perfection at the return of Christ for us. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2 

Agape love is ushered in to us by God's word
"But whoso keepeth his (God's) word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him." 1 John 2:5.

Tough Love
Let us pray for and determine to let God's agape love shine out of our lives, however, in all candor, I must admit that except for God's love for all of humanity and for me, I would find it very difficult to love most humans. We are, in general, a very unlovely lot. Which brings me to another side of love ... "Tough love". Some times the best thing we can do for those we love is to cease to finance or enable them to do evil and just turn them over to God to deal with. That is often the only means of correcting some people's actions and attitude. Apostle Paul went a step furthur ..."To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." 1 Cor.5:5. 

There is also a time to wound a transgressor or attacker who cannot otherwise be neutralized. That is why Jesus instructed His Apostles to acquire swords ...."Then said he unto them .... he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. And they said, Lord, behold, here two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough." Luke 22:36 & 38. 

There is also a time for war and a time to kill according to Ecc. 3:1, 8. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven  ....A time to kill ....a time of war, and a time of peace.  World War 2 and the Korean War come to mind. Nations were saved in these two wars. After the Korean War many Koreans came to Christ and South Korea is now about 25% Christian. RB

May 31, 2014

Plastic Surgeon In Civilized, Republic 0f Israel About Barbaic But Free Muslim Citizens There

Common Sense Commentary: We must remember that the Republic of Israel has within the borders of their tiny country a large segment of Muslim citizens. They are not all terrorists, but being present and free, within the country, allows for vital military and national secret information to leak out to the nations enemies. The most powerful weapon your enemy can have is information from inside your camp. Our country has a similar problem with those Muslims who live here, are free to roam and work in strategic positions, but hate us. Fortunately we are not also surrounded by our enemies as is Israel. Not all Muslims in the U.S. hate us but neither do they inform on Muslim terrorists or even speak out against them. Their silence is, itself, one step away from treason. Some may remain silent for fear of their lives, but fear is no excuse when your silence jeopardized the lives of what could be hundreds or thousands of other innocent American lives.  The deafening silence in America's ghettos, when a crime has been witnessed, but the witnesses will not testify because of fear, is bad enough, but when our nation itself is at stake, silence is not only cowardice, it is as bad as the crime. RB.


By Dr. Arieh Eldad an M.D. at Hadassah Hospital in Israel

I was instrumental in establishing the "Israeli National Skin Bank", which
is the largest in the world. The National Skin Bank stores skin for every day
needs as well as for war time or mass casualty situations. This skin bank
is hosted at the Hadassah Ein Kerem University hospital in Jerusalem where
I was the Chairman of plastic surgery.


This is how I was asked to supply skin for an Arab woman from Gaza,
who was hospitalized in Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, after her family
burned her.

Usually, such atrocities happen among Arab families when the women are
suspected of having an affair. We supplied all the needed Homografts
for her treatment. She was successfully treated by my friend and
colleague, Prof. Lior Rosenberg and discharged to return to Gaza .She
was invited for regular follow-up visits to the outpatient clinic in
Beersheva.

One day she was caught at a border crossing wearing a suicide belt.

She meant to explode herself in the outpatient clinic of the hospital where
they saved her life. It seems that her family promised her that if she did
that, they would forgive her.

*This is only one example of the war between Jews and Muslims in the
Land of Israel . It is not a territorial conflict. This is a
civilizational conflict, or rather a war between civilization and
barbarism.

Bibi (Netanyahu) gets it, Obama does not.*

I have never written before asking everyone to please forward onwards so
that as many as possible can understand radical Islam and what awaits the
world if it is not stopped.

Dr Arieh Eldad


May 30, 2014

Porn May Be Messing With Your Brain

Common Sense Commentary: Why would anyone be surprised at the facts of this study? Either the porn is shrinking and infecting your brain or your brain watches porn because it is smaller than normal sized brains. Either way, your brain, if not pea sized, is, nevertheless a smaller version than normal. I speak harshly of this vice because, as a pastor, many times I have seen the damage  porn does to individuals, their spouses, children, friends and families. That's not to mention how God must be grieved when those He created in His image and likeness fill their mind with this garbage and what His judgement of them must be. This particular sin has been a motivating factor in most serial rapists, and many serial killers. It is not only degrading but is a contributing cause of mental problems and broken marriages. It is akin to addiction, and like other addictions can be broken, with fervent prayer, committed Bible study and a determined spirit. If you do it ... stop it, in Jesus name. RB



Porn May Be Messing With Your Brain

By By Andrew M. Seaman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who report watching a lot of pornography tend to have less volume and activity in regions of the brain linked to rewards and motivation, says a new German study. The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, can't say watching porn caused the decrease in brain matter and activity, however. t's not clear, for example, whether watching porn leads to brain changes or whether people born with certain brain types watch more porn, said Simone Kühn, the study’s lead author from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, in an email.
“Unfortunately we cannot answer this question based on the results of the present study,” Kühn said.
But, she noted, the results provide the first evidence for a link between pornography consumption and reductions in brain size and brain activity in response to sexual stimuli.
For the study, she and her colleague Jurgen Gallinat from Charite University, also in Berlin, recruited 64 healthy men between the ages of 21 and 45 years and asked them questions about their porn-watching habits. They also took images of the men’s brains to measure volume and to see how their brains reacted to pornographic pictures.
“We found that the volume of the so-called striatum, a brain region that has been associated with reward processing and motivated behavior was smaller the more pornography consumption the participants reported,” Kühn said.
“Moreover we found that another brain region, that is also part of the striatum that is active when people see sexual stimuli, shows less activation the more pornography participants consumed,” she added.
What’s more, the researchers found that the connection between the striatum and prefrontal cortex, which is the outer layer of the brain associated with behavior and decision making, worsened with increased porn watching.
Because the study can’t prove that porn caused the changes to the brain, Kühn said it’s not possible to say whether watching porn is actually harmful.
“Everything is going to be bad in excess and it’s probably not terrible in moderation,” Dr. Gregory Tau of the Columbia University / New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York said. Tau, who was not involved with the study, agreed that more research should be done in this area and that longer studies would be need to find out if porn leads to brain changes.
“It is possible that there are individuals with a certain kind of brain that are more susceptible to these kinds of behaviors,” he said. “Or, it’s possible it’s the excessive use (of porn) that’s perpetuating itself to causing brain changes. Or, it could be both.”
Kühn said other behaviors, such as driving a taxi, are linked to changes to brain size and functioning.
“Basically everything that people do very frequently can shape their brain structure and function,” she said.



.

May 29, 2014

"The Prodigal Son Or Daughter" With Cast Of Characters

Common Sense Commentary:

The Prodigal Son, His Loving Father, His Self-Righteous, Jealous Brother, and His Piggish Friends all had their parts to play in this tragedy and oft performed story.

The father loved both of his sons and worked long hard years to provide for their needs and would soon leave all he had built to them... equally. He was a faithful, wise father. His two sons were born into the family God had chosen for them. They had both been taught to work and be responsible, and do the right thing, but young men dream of the day they can make their own decisions and do what they want to do and be what they choose to be. The father knew that forcing them to always do the honest, correct and responsible thing would only last until they grew old enough to leave home. He had to prepare them for that day when they would make all their own decisions. That day came for these two sons. One decided to take his inheritance and go out into the world ... and be free from his father's rules and requirements which he had to obey. He had big plans and was certain he was ready and knew what he was doing. He would show them what he could do on his own.  The other son chose to stay where he was planted and help run the farm which would soon be his alone. He was glad his brother was gone. Only he would now own the farm. He would be a big, important man

The first son hurriedly left his home, his family, and the dull farm life he hated, behind. He quickly made new friends in the taverns, sports fields and entertainment centers. It seemed all he had to do was buy them a beer or pay for their meal or ticket to the theatre and they saw him as a successful entrepreneur or smart business man and quickly became his constant companions. They told all their friends how intelligent he was. More and more "friends" hoggishly helped him spend his money and "have a good time". It was the good life he had always wanted. ... until it wasn't. Suddenly his inheritance was gone, depleted, exhausted, spent. He was broke ... and just as suddenly... alone ... no friends, no food, no apartment, no donkey, no booze. He was now in the same poverty as his piggish former friends, but now he was competing with them for the slop of sinful pleasure in a worldly, foul smelling pen with the other hogs.

Then, one day, he "came to himself", woke up to reality, saw the light, he smelled like a hog, looked like a hog ... was a hog. He determined to crawl out of that mess and run for the hills of home ... back to Daddy; back to delicious food;  back to clean sheets and fresh air and music and cool well water. God help me, I have sinned. I'm not worth hog vomit. Maybe Daddy still loves me and Mommy will make me pancakes, eggs and bacon ... uhh sausage... uhh ... biscuits.

He arrived back at the farm broke and broken, filthy and starving, but repentant. His father's and mommy's prayers had been answered and his father ran to embrace him and welcome him back from the hell he had bought with his inheritance. But, his "perfect" brother was bitter, selfish, and self-righteously complained against his "sorry, lazy, good for nothing" brother ... even though he alone was now the sole heir to the farm. The poor, wayward, prodigal son had a heart full of repentance and gratitude. The responsible, hard working, dependable son had a heart full of pride and bad attitude. So, which son do you suppose God now looked upon with favor?  Which are you ..... or are you the mother or the father of sons or daughters? RB.