What On Earth Is Happening
2020 Entries
Wednesday, 12/23/2020
In the recent weeks, congress has been working on a COVID-19 relief bill. Monday night they finally got ready and President Trump got to see it. The bill is 5,593 pages long. The main purpose of this bill was to give Americans a stimulus check to help them survive. Earlier in the year, everyone was supposed to have gotten a $1,200 check from the government. This time it is to be $600. This is a bill that was needed because of what is happening to the families and businesses in the United States.
The bill was sent to Congress 2 hours before the scheduled vote. That’s over 5,000 pages to be read before the vote. There’s no way that congress could have read it all.
But when it went to the President to look over he saw the low amount of $600 per person and all the additions that were in it and told congress to amend or give him a new bill that addressed the crisis more appropriately. He wanted the $600 per person upped to $1,200 or $2,000 perperson.
The main purpose of the bill was to provide relief to Americans. But the fact that the bill was held up for the last three and a half months, there were a few more things that had to be included in it.
Relief for Americans: they would give $600 for each Americans.
Pet projects that were tacked onto the bill:
$40 million to the Kennedy Center. In the other COVID relief bill earlier this year, they got $25 million. It is currently closed.
$154 million for the National Gallery of Art.
$70 billion for a range of public health measures (purchase & distribution of vaccine – and more)
$10 million to Pakistan for gender studies programs.
$45 million to officials in Central America to “combat corruption”.
$453 million to Ukraine
$700 to Sudan
$132 million to the Republic of Georgia
$198 million to Bangladesh
$170 million to Vietnam
$33 million for “democracy programs” in Venezuela
$1.3 billion to Egypt and the Egyptian Military
$35 billion to fund wind, solar and other clean energy projects.
$13 billion for increased nutrition assistance
$400 million of which will go to support food banks and food pantries
$175 million for nutrition programs under the Older Americans Act, like Meals on Wheels etc.
Money to fund the government so it will not have to shut down.
These are just some of the extras that are tacked onto the bill. It was purposely held up to the end of the year because the government would shut down if a bill doesn’t get passed to fund the government, so tacking it on the COVID relief bill would increase the chances of it passing and getting signed.
But President Trump is ticked. He may sign the bill anyway, but if he doesn’t, Biden will have to deal with it – probably. What President Trump wants is a new bill with the relief package stuff only. That is, the relief for Americans, the cost of the vaccine(s) and distribution of them and items that have to do with the restrictions placed on Americans and how to relieve them.
It’s great that the bill came about from a bipartisan group, but there is so much tacked on to it and it came before Congress so late that it can’t really be fully understood. Americans will only get $600. Is that enough for several months more of this change in our way of life? Many people are out of work and cannot afford the food necessary for their family to live.
Monday, December 21, 2020
As we approach Christmas we should realize what it means to us. The one God that created the world and created all of the people on this planet loves each one of usl. But we have really made a mess of things throughout the world.
When the Lord created people, He started with Adam and Eve. Yes, they were the first human beings on our planet. They were given one rule. They were told not to eat from the tree in the center of the garden (Genesis 2:16-17), but they did (Genesis 3:6-7). God had told them that they would die if they ate from that tree (Genesis 2:17). We really don’t know how long they were in the Garden of Eden before they ate from that tree, but because the Lord told them they would die if they ate from it, they probably didn’t age before that. Before eating from the tree, they could talk to the Lord as you and I talk to people. After eating from the tree, they started to age – that is they would eventually die as the Lord had told them. Disobedience to the Lord is sin. Adam and Eve had it made before they disobeyed the Lord. We have followed suit ever since.
Today, to a large part, we ignore our creator. Many people say that our creator, as God, doesn’t exist. Many worship other things and make them out to be a god. As we look at the happenings in the world, we can see things happening that have been foretold long ago. Look in the Holy Bible in the books of Zechariah, Ezekiel and Revelation. In Matthew 29 Jesus also told His disciples some of the things that would happen near the end. Some of the things are happening already, such as the Jews returning to the land of Israel. These things are happening because God, the creator, can see the future as well as the past and present. If we choose to ignore God, our creator, we will be lost when it is our time to exit this life.
We have all sinned. We have tried to do things our own way. This has been going on from Adam & Eve. It even got so bad that the Lord wiped out most life and started over with Noah and his family – and the animals that made it into the ark. The sin that Adam and Eve committed separated them from God, the creator. They didn’t have the same personal relationship with God as they had before they ate from that tree. The sin they committed by disobeying the Lord had to be paid for. The payment for their sin was the separation from God for all of eternity.
But – the Lord made a provision that enabled them to recover the relationship with the Lord that they once had. The Lord sent Jesus, the Messiah to save people from having to pay for the sins they had committed or will commit in the future. Jesus suffered the punishment that we all should suffer because of our sins. But because Jesus didn’t sin, even once, He could recover from this separation from God. All we have to do is believe that He (Jesus) rose again (after He was killed on the cross) and ascended into Heaven.
Jesus told us in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
So the ONLY way to God the creator is through Jesus Christ. We need to accept that fact that He died for our sakes because He loved us. He is the one who paid the punishment for all of our sins. If we accept this fact then we are “saved”. We are then saved from having to pay for them ourselves. If we did it ourselves, there would be no end to the payment – our sins would never be paid for. But Jesus did it for us. All we have to do is accept this fact.
So what do we have to do to be saved from having to pay the penalty for my sins?
ADMIT your spiritual need. “I am a sinner”
BELIEVE that Jesus Christ died and rose again for you
RECEIVE, through prayer, Jesus Christ into your heart and life.
Pray a prayer much like this one – and mean it.
- Lord Jesus,
- I know that I am a sinner. I believe that you are the Son of the Living God and that you died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins. I believe that you then rose from the dead. Jesus, please forgive me for the sins I have committed and cleanse me from the inside out. Right now, Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart and make of me a new person.
- Thank you Lord Jesus Christ for coming into my heart.
- Amen
;Monday, December 7, 2020
I’m sorry it took so long for me to get back to my computer. The computer had problems so we had to wipe everything off it and start over again. Fortunately, we didn’t lose anything – I don’t think.
Well, the election is over, but President Trump doesn’t want to admit that he lost. He seems to be acting like a little kid having a temper tantrum – or lately just going to his “room” and pouting. It is true that during his presidency, many positive things were accomplished. It appears that he thought that he was the one who accomplished them. However, he was wrong. He was the President when he did these things, but I believe that he was led to accomplish them.
Who is really in charge of the world we live in? It’s the creator – the one who created the world, the planets, the sun – the whole universe. Many people think that a God like that cannot exist, but that’s because we try to make God think like we do. But, in reality, God the creator is all powerful and all knowing. Just think of it. God made the universe out of nothing. We can’t even comprehend this feat so many people say there must not be a God because we don’t understand how He could do such a thing. But with faith, we can believe in God. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen ( Hebrews 11:1 ). We can have faith on many things we don’t understand. If a person doesn’t understand why gravity exists, they still have faith that if they drop a ball, it will fall down and not up.
Even though election day is over, it appears there are a number of things having to do with the election that are not or were not right. It seems pretty fishy – so the election is not completely over. However, on the surface it does look like Bidon is going to be the President for the next 4 years.
On another note; Have you heard about the Christmas Star this year. The “Christmas Star” is when Jupiter and Saturn align so closely in the last week of December that they create a bright point of light when we see it from Earth. It normally happens about every 20 years, but the alignment this year is closer than most years. The last time they were this close in alignment was in the middle ages – on March 4, 1226.
The best time to view the Christmas Star will be on December 21st, about 45 minutes after sunset in the southwest sky. However, it will be with us for the entire 4th week of December.
Perhaps the Lord set things up for just this time. It seems to be a reminder that His hand is really on our lives – just when we need it.
Where is our nation headed?
Tuesday, November 3, 2020 - Election Day
Well, today is Election Day, 2020. Did you get out to vote or did you vote early? I hope so. I went to vote at our little election “hall”. This is where I’ve voted since I moved here. I’ve never seen it so packed. I’ve always been able to come into the room right away. Today, the line was long enough to go around the building. There’s only room for 6 people to vote at a time. For a normal election, this is large enough, but this one is really getting out the people. I have never seen the country so divided as this election. Many people are for either Trump or Biden. But this time, many are voting for Biden because they don’t want Trump. They don’t know what Biden’s policies are – they just don’t want Trump for 4 more years.
It’s interesting to see how people are making up their minds on who to vote for. President Trump has a very rough demeanor. He will openly put down people. He will do things without giving a reasonable explanation for them. Some times he even says things that appear to be a lie. But people can see it with President Trump. With other politicians they can’t always see what they are doing in the background.
I’m not sure who our president will be for the next 4 years, but by the end of the week, we should know. A question to ask ourselves is which one will keep the United States on a track to adhere to the Constitution of the United States? The writers of the Constitution thought things trough pretty good. But our politicians shouldn’t be changing it with the peoples consent. That was what packing the Supreme Court was about. With a majority of Liberals on the Supreme Court, they could be convinced to change the meaning of the laws as written.
If Biden wins the election, He said that one thing he would do is make it so the Roe vs Wade decision cannot be overturned. This 1973 decision by the Supreme Court allowed the woman [who was pregnant] to make the decision to have an abortion or not. It allowed for abortion on demand. His team also talked about stacking the Supreme Court to have a majority of Liberals who would look at the Constitution from the Liberal (or “Progressive”) viewpoint. This would allow them to look at the meaning of the Constitution in a different way than from the Conservative viewpoint.
But looking at abortion – what is it? It’s the killing of a baby human being. The baby is not part of the mother, it is a separate being. The baby has it’s own blood supply and it’s own DNA. It uses the mother as the host and protector, providing nourishment to the baby until birth. The baby is a separate being. It is not part of the mother.
When a person says “it is a woman’s choice” to have an abortion, it’s really saying “It is a woman’s choice to have her baby killed”.
Friday, October 30, 2020
Well, I watched the 2nd and last Presidential debate between Trump and Biden. I’ve got to say that this one was better than the last one. For the 2 minutes that Biden was trying to answer the topic, Trump did hold off saying anything. I think that was to his credit. I thought that Trump answered the questions a bit better that Biden as far as staying on topic. But I guess that’s debatable.
One of the topics that they brought up was how each of them would have handled the Coronavirus pandemic. Biden has all along blamed the 200,000 Coronavirus deaths on Trump – while not really saying what he would have done that would have kept the deaths down. It’s obvious that Biden would not have done anything as soon as Trump did, but he may have done more after it got worse, but they didn’t really get into that at the debate.
It was obvious to me that Trump had a better grasp on the foreign affairs than Biden did – especially where money was concerned. I would guess that ‘s because of Trumps history. But Biden did seem very well versed in the questions.
It is sad that the strong point of Trump is his foreign affairs, but there were no questions about the way he has handled them. Maybe that’s because they knew that Biden wouldn’t do well on that subject.
Did the 2nd debate change your mind about what candidate you’re going to vote for? Many of you have voted already, but not all. I’m going to vote next week at “early voting” in my state.
The other thing that’s on our minds is the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. As I write this, she has been approved, but needs to be voted yet.
I don’t really see why the Democrats are so against her. She is a conservative judge. She believes in the constitution as it’s written. And, but what I’ve heard, the Democrats don’t want another conservative on the Supreme Court because then they won’t have such a chance to make laws to agree with their way of thinking. But of course they won’t say that. They just want to get persons that are more liberal on the Supreme Court.
That’s where “packing” the court comes in where one side, the Conservatives or Liberals would increase the number of Justices on the Supreme Court by a number that would make their side, Conservatives or Liberals, a majority on the Supreme Court. The idea of the Supreme Court is supposed to be to adhere to the Constitution, but it appears that the Liberals (typically the Democrats) want to change the meaning of parts of the Constitution.
One thing that did come up in the confirmation hearings was where Amy Coney Barrett was asked about her feelings about Roe vs Wade which made abortion on demand legal. She said that she’d follow the guidelines of the Supreme Court when a case like that came before them. So she didn’t really commit herself on whether she was for or against it. But because she is a conservative judge, it is assumed that she will be against the Roe vs Wade decision and work to overturn it. But it may never come up.
How do you stand on supporting the Roe vs Wade decision of making abortion legal?
Friday October 9, 2020
I know we all have some thoughts on the upcoming Presidential election. As I write this, we’ve had one Presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Biden. We’ve also had a debate between Vice President Pence and Kamala Harris. I’m not sure if there will be any more debates or not. President Trump doesn’t want to participate if it going to be virtual.
When I watched the Presidential debate, I really didn’t learn anything about the candidates. The Vice Presidential debate wasn’t as flaring as the Presidential debate, but we still didn’t learn a whole lot. I know it’s very hard for either contender to answer a serious question in 2 minutes. And each contender was putting down the other. I guess that’s to be expected in a debate of this nature, however. But both debates seemed like the political ads on TV only ramped up a few notches. The TV ads only have one side talking for the ad In most cases, they are always putting the other side down because they can’t defend themselves in such a situation.
So how are we to decide who to vote for? Many have already voted. They haven’t heard the debates or some of the information that becomes available after they sent in their voting ballet. It’s possible that we are looking in the wrong place or at the wrong thing as to who to vote for.
If we look at the personal actions of the candidates then it’s pretty clear who we would vote for. But we also have to look at the policies that were established – and why. No matter who is elected, there will be supporters and anti-supports. You can run through each presidency and list the faults that the president made during the presidency. But the last several have been getting more pronounced.
I don’t intend to list the faults here, but if you look back you can see that the divide between the Republican and Democratic parties has become sharper and more pronounced. Just think about it. What would it take to change your mind on who to vote for? If you go back 30 years you may find something that would change your mind to vote for the other candidate. But the elections since then have made it harder. The gulf between Liberal and Conservative has become much greater.
President Trump has received a lot of flack because he called in National Guard to restore order in some places. And those places are not other countries, they are within our own country – the United States of America. How did we get to this state? We were a nation under God and with Godly principles when we started – but lately we’ve pushed God out of our government and out of our society. This is getting worse as time goes on.
The people who don’t want God in our society feel that they can “demonstrate” to get their way in our society. This is only happening in pockets around our nation, but in time it will grow. The one(s) in charge should not listen only to the people who scream the loudest, but also listen to those who are willing to sit down and talk about the law(s) and what changes we can make to benefit everyone. It does no good if we destroy businesses or vehicles or offices of those who are entrusted with keeping the peace.
Our nation needs God back in our lives. I don’t mean that the government should require us to believe in God or to have only one religion. The government cannot do that because the first amendment to the constitution forbids it. But, unfortunately, parts of the constitution and amendments are interpreted differently by different people. This is getting worse as time goes by.
Having God in our society is not bad. But telling the people that we have to have the same God is not OK. But when we push God out of the government, we will not survive very long. We are in the process of pushing Him out already. There is only one God, but we don’t all have to believe this and we don’t all have to worship this God.
Our nation has two things going for us. We are a nation that has been founded on Christian-Judeo principles and we support Israel, home of God’s chosen people. The Lord has shown His patience with our nation many times, and is doing so now. We have several big no-no’s going on in our country, but our country is blessed because we are supporting God’s people. Depending on how the upcoming election goes, this may change.
As I write this, the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett (President Trump’s pick to fill the empty slot in the Supreme Court) will be starting next week. The Democrats are all up in arms because President Trump wants to get her confirmed before the election and the Democrats don’t. The Democrats main objection is that she is a Conservative. This means that she will adhere to the Constitution and laws as they are written rather than figure out how to make them sound like they (the Liberals) want them. I’m sure they will draw out the confirmation hearings at least until after the election and possibly until after the President is inaugurated (January 20th).
The divide between the Republicans and Democrats is sharper than ever.
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
The big thing on the news now is filling the vacancy of Ruth Ginsburg in the Supreme Court. Since these “judges” are supposed to be non-partisan, it shouldn’t be too hard to pick and approve them. But it seems to me that it’s not about the people they want to appoint, it’s about the party that selects them. Look at the trouble that President Trump had in trying to get Brett Kavanaugh appointed. The democrats knew that President Trump wanted to appoint a conservative justice – so they were against it because the appointee wasn’t liberal enough. I’m sure it would be the opposite had the Democrats tried to appoint a liberal justice.
Why do we want more liberal people in judgeship? We need to follow the laws that our forefathers set up. Being lawyers, the justices on the Supreme Court can write up anything and make it sound like that’s the only way it should be. They, as judges, know how to make it sound that way. I guess this is an advantage of having non-partisan justices on the Supreme Court.
But how likely is it that the Republicans will choose a liberal and the Democrats will pick a Conservative? Not very likely. But the Justices are supposed to be non-partisan so they’re only supposed to make decisions based on the laws of the land.
So what is the difference between a Liberal and a Conservative? I’ve heard these terms, but have never seen a definition of them. Then on some surveys, they ask if you are a strong Liberal, partial Liberal, a Liberal leaning toward Conservative, neither a liberal or Conservative, a Conservative leaning toward Liberal, a partial Conservative or a strong Conservative.
I would guess that many people have different ideas of what a Conservative or a Liberal (Libertarian) is.
I looked on the internet and came up with:
A liberal tends to maximize freedom and oppose government .
A conservative favors government action to promote order.
It’s hard to place a defined definition for either of them, however and I’m sure that we all could add more to the definition of either one.
I am so very sorry that our government is trying to push God (the creator) out of government. We should look to God when determining new laws or changes in our laws already established.
God was in the creation of our government and now we push Him out because some don’t want Him in the government. Typically, this is the liberals.
I’ve mentioned about laws in our land that go against God’s laws. The law of abortion is one of those laws. We are NOT supposed to kill people just because we don’t want to bother with them after they are born - even if they are still in the womb. The baby in the womb is alive. The baby is NOT part of the mother. This is one dispute that is going to be around for a long time. People say it is the woman’s choice if she wants to have the baby killed or not. But the womb is a place for the baby to start the growth process. If a baby is born, or removed from the womb at 5 months, does that make it any less of a human being? The baby is alive. It really doesn’t make any difference when the government says that life begins because, in reality, life begins at conception.
We should all be looking forward to what is best for our country and the people – not just looking for want we want.
Why are government offices not allowed to have a copy of the Ten Commandments on the walls? These are good rules to live by. Removing them is just one more step in removing God from our society. No one is forcing people to obey them. No one is punishing those who do the sort of things the commandments say we should not do. But these commandments come from a higher power – that of God, our creator. Our nation has been greatly blessed by our creator. But we are now treading on shaky ground.
Another topic that is in the news is our support of Israel. God told Abraham (re: the Jews) that:
- I will bless those who bless you,
- and whoever curses you I will curse;
- and all peoples on earth
- will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3 – NIV)
- Our nation has, typically, supported Israel because it is a nation in the Mid-East that has a democratic form of government. Because of our support our nation has been blessed. But, eventually, we will go against Israel like it has been prophesied in Joel 3:2 (among others). This is very close now. Lately, the gulf between the Republicans and Democrats (in the U.S.) has increased. The gulf between Support and Non-Support of Israel has also increased. If we drop Israel and support splitting Israel, the curse of the Lord will be on us, as it says in Genesis 12:3.
Tuesday September 22, 2020
This election is really something. There is the usual mud-slinging at the opponent, but sometimes the mud doesn’t make sense.
The main politicians are Trump and Biden. Each of them is trying to point out something that their opponent is doing “wrong”. Perhaps it’s not really wrong, but they make it sound like it is and try to sway the voters away from their opponent.
Why are we like that. We all make mistakes. So why are we swayed by one fault? If the president says one thing that his opponent can bite on, many people are swayed in their support. Who knows what election day will bring, however.
As I write this, a reporter asked if Biden used a teleprompter. What difference does it make? Trump used one many times. You can tell when he’s reading something because he talks in a monotone voice. When he is talking “off the cuff” he has more inflection in his voice. They’ve been talking about this all day. But what difference does it make?
The president has made mistakes and I think everyone can name a few, but we need to look at what he has accomplished.
In an election like the upcoming one, we need to think about what the contenders have done and what they will do. It’s a bad time to be listening to what they plan on doing, because they both want to appease the public. Unfortunately, our country is getting further to the “left” and that gets us further away from obeying the laws that are above out governments laws.
It’s the same way with our local elections. One puts a negative slant on something their opponent says so people will be swayed away from their opponent. But if they explained why their opponent did what they did, it wouldn’t seem so bad. Mudslinging goes both ways, however.
Several years ago, before major elections, the League of Women Voters used to make a little voter guide pamphlet that the voters could used to see how the people running for office voted on several bills. I thought this was a big help, but for some reason, it was stopped. Looking on the internet, it appears to still be going on in some states. I found these little guides very helpful. I guess now we’re supposed to listen to the candidates on the TV and vote from what we learn there. A lot of good that does.
This is only going to get worse as it gets closer to the election. I haven’t heard too many ads for the Democrats, however. I’m expecting that as we get closer to the election, the Democrats will come out with things that will sway the Republicans. I’m sure that both sides are thinking along that line, however. If things are said in the last few days or weeks before the election, people will not have much time to change their minds so they will be more likely to go with the last negative suggestion.
So vote for who you think will do the best job overall. Which contender will do the best overall job of running the country. Look ahead to what would happen if your choice wins. Would the country be better off or not?
Thursday, September 10, 2020
After Solomon built the temple, the Lord said to him:
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2nd Chronicles 7:13-14 NIV)
- Do we think that all of the things happening now are coming without a warning? We’ve had a warning. Read the above. God had already warned the Israelites. But that warning also is for us. Listen up people. We are being warned now. If our country will humble ourselves and pray and seek the Lord and turn away from our wicked ways, then the Lord will forgive our sin and will heal our land. Wow! Yes, things could get better. But we’ve got to do something before it does. We have to humble ourselves and pray and seek the Lord. We need to turn away from our sins.
Over the years we have made laws allowing us to do things that 100 years ago would never have been thought of.
When the nation was founded, freedom of speech was assured for all (1st amendment). But now we have what’s called “hate speech”. Although it is still “speech” and is allowed under the 1st amendment, it does incite anger and more hate. In time, there could be a law against it.
60 years ago abortion was not normally allowed – except in cases of rape or the life of the mother was in danger. Now any woman can have their unborn child killed. And in some states, the parents of a child who is pregnant doesn’t even have to be informed.
Our 2nd amendment allows us to bear arms. This is something that has come up in recent times. But it’s controversial. It is still easier to obtain a gun in certain states than others.
The principles that our country were founded on made sense at the time and they make sense now. But we have those who try to change the laws to allow them to do things contrary to the original laws.
Our first amendment says the government cannot make a law respecting a specific religion or to force the practice of that religion. Yet, there have been cases where official offices have had to remove a list of the 10 Commandments that hung on their wall – just to satisfy a person who disagreed with it. The 10 Commandments do not tell anyone who sees them that they must adhere to them. But they are 10 things that it would be good for us to live by.
In several schools, Christian students wear a cross on a necklace. In some cases, the school has not allowed this – because it was an outward sign that they were a Christian. This was NOT against the 1st amendment.
We must keep in mind that there IS a God. This God is our creator. He has told us certain things are wrong and certain things are right. If we don’t believe this (even though it is true) then we are to accept only mans laws to be governed by. But man’s laws continue to change as time goes on.
We are changing our language as time goes on. No one speaks of killing unborn babies. Rather pregnant women are only “removing the fetus”, or “terminating a pregnancy”. Many people speak of a woman’s right to choose . . . But you hardly ever hear the rest of the sentence – “ . . . to kill the unborn child in her”. Homosexual behavior is changed to “an alternate lifestyle”. Adultery is changed to “an affair”.
What is happening to America? We seem to be changing to a nation where facts do not matter because we are changing the definition of the facts so they don’t infringe on our “rights”.
Monday, 8/24/20
Black Lives Matter. It seems that this is what you are seeing on the news every day. But the reality is that all lives matter. Where do we get off saying that only one race matters. Of course black lives matter – but white lives matter also. So do the other ethnicities matter – and they all matter just as much as the others. So why do we have anger toward one or more certain races?
When I was a child, I was taught to accept all people as equals. Skin color made no difference; origin made no difference. We were all the same. Our experiences were different. We grew up under different circumstances, but we were all people. Just because someone is from a different place or their skin color is different than ours or they talk with an accent doesn’t make them any less of a person inside.
I realize that my upbringing is different than many of yours. Some have been taught by those around them to hate or look down on other races or a certain race. And they get angry when other people don’t think the same way as they do. What kind of people are we anyway? People come in different looks – some need glasses, some have a full head of hair, some can’t hear, or some cannot even see. But this doesn’t make them different inside. They are still a person who deserves the respect of others. We are all different.
I’m thinking of the death of George Floyd. This was seen on television many times. Do you think that the police officer who killed him planned on killing him when he left for work that morning? Of course not. I don’t understand why he didn’t release his knee form George Floyd’s neck, but he probably thought he was doing the correct thing – at the time. I’m sure he regrets it now.
I’m thinking of another police killing that was on TV – I forgot the name, but the police officer shot him in the back as he was trying to run away. I’m sure the police officer had no idea of doing such a thing when he went to work that morning. To me that’s the “cops and robbers” mentality that I remember as a child. When the “bad guy” tried to get away from us, we’d shoot him. That was our way of stopping him from getting away. Of course there was no reality in our game. But when you have only a second to make a quick decision, you sometimes make mistakes – and that was a big one. I don’t know if racism had anything to do with it or not. But many people take it as such.
For a while, the television networks would show attacks of the whites against the blacks. But there have been attacks against whites also. Or some just to attack other people. This is so sad.
Unfortunately, the feeling that another person is something less than us because of the color of their skin is carried down from generation to generation.
We are all formed by God and He loves each one of us. He LOVES us. He doesn’t love a person with white skin any more than a person with black skin. God looks at the heart of the person. He looks at what is inside the person – not the outside.
- NOTE
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. - (I John 2:9-11 NIV)
Monday, 8/17/20
It seems that wherever you look, people are getting upset at one another. There are things to get upset about, but it seems like it is getting worse now.
We have seen the anger come out more since the Corona Virus has spread and caused many people to lose their jobs – or at least be laid off for a period of time. This gives the people more time on their hands to go and protest or whatever they want to do. Everyone has an opinion on this. But the fact is that there are many people that are not making enough money for their family.
So what’s the cause of this? This is something that we, the present generation, have never gone through before, so we don’t know exactly how we are to handle it. It seems like each state (in the U.S.) is handling it differently – and everyone wants to go back to “normal”.
It seems like the best way to beat the Corona Virus is to lock everyone in their homes for a predetermined time. This would have to be worldwide also. Of course, this is not practical. We can not do this. There are many people that ARE needed. Health care workers are needed more now then before, so people are still moving about – and spreading the disease. And the fact that this is a world-wide problem makes it even greater.
We are told to wear a face mask when going out among people because we can spread the disease when we talk or breathe heavily. Some people complain about wearing a mask because “it is their right” to not wear a mask. But it is not their right to breathe on other people and spread the virus to them. So we need to be respectful of other persons.
It really is forcing us into decisions that we’ve never had to make before. Because we don’t have a vaccine to counteract the virus, we are running into other problems. How do we handle the kids going back to school? What about college? What about jobs that generate crowds such as movies, sports, bars, concerts, and much more. We are in a learning mode now.
Is this the first time such a thing has happened? There have been plagues before and many people died from them. Plagues are one of the things the Lord used in the Old Testament to wipe out enemies.
Do you think the Lord is trying to tell us something?
Our nation started out under the Christian/Judeo principles. Our forefathers would pray to the Lord for guidance before making major decisions. But look at our nation now. The nation seems to be going downhill. Congress has to bicker to make many decisions – and these decisions are supposed to be for the people. Sometimes it makes you wonder if they are working for the people or themselves.
Is the lockdown the best way to go to defeat the COVID-19 virus? Like I said, we’ve never gone through this in our present generation. There have been plagues in the past, but they haven’t had the communications that we have – or the number of people to deal with. And many people died from them. One of the worst was the Black Plague or Bubonic plague from 1346 to 1353. It is estimated that between 75 to 200 million people died from this plague.
In the Bible the Lord used plagues to wipe out enemies of Israel. One of the most widely known plagues is when the Israelites wanted to leave Egypt. The Lord sent a plague that killed the first born of those who didn’t put the blood of the lamb around their door (see Genesis 12:21-23).
We are looking at this pandemic as something that we’ll be rid of very quickly. Perhaps. We are handling it the best way we know how. Unfortunately each state is thinking a bit differently about how to handle it. But we are trying to learn.
It appears that all nations are affected by the virus. We say that this is because of people traveling to an area taking the virus with them and passing it on to others. But who is really in control of the virus? Of course, it’s the Lord God Almighty. He is in control of the virus.
So why would the Lord God, the creator of the earth and people want to create a virus? For the answer to this question, we do need to go into the Holy Bible. I can’t get into the full answer to this question this time, but a quick answer would be that God has told and told us (the people He has created) what is right and what is wrong. We have done many wrong things, but in the last 100 years, it seems that we have gone away from the Godly principles and done our own thing. It appears that the government is leading this because they are the ones who make the laws. If the government says it’s OK to do a certain thing – even if the Lord said it is NOT to be done, then people will do it – because they can.
Where do we stand in this? Are we to do what is right – or do what the laws of man allow – even when God, our creator, says no?
Wednesday, 7/29/2020
Can we survive by just doing our own thing? Can we survive while ignoring our creator?
The answer depends on what you are looking at. If we look at just this life, then it is possible to “do our own thing” and survive - until we die. But there are consequences if we err in this life.
If we look at the Bible we see that Adam and Eve did their own thing when in the Garden (Genesis 2:6 – 3:8). They were told not to eat from the tree in the center of the garden, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were told that they would die if they ate from it. But they did it anyway. They suffered the consequences. The Lord told them they would die if they ate from it – and they eventually did die. They were ushered out of the garden and had to work to accomplish things.
So even back then they “survived” by doing their own thing – for a limited time (the rest of their earthly lives).
It was the same way after the people were split up into groups of their own language. They separated into their own areas. They continued doing what they wanted to do – whatever made them feel good. There didn’t seem to be any right or wrong – people just did their own thing – whatever made them feel good. But Noah’s family still worshipped the Lord.
Eventually, the Lord decided to start over again. He caused a great flood (Yes, God caused it) and caused most of the animals and humans to die (Genesis 6 to 8). But Noah and his family survived (with a pair of most animals) and worshipped God. Afterwards, the Lord made a promise that He would never wipe out the people on the earth with rain again (Genesis 9:8-17). And that promise is still in effect today.
When the people started building the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-8) they did their own thing – thinking that they could get to God by getting high enough. However, they the Lord stopped them by giving them several different languages, which stopped their construction of the tower. They were trying to get to God by their own means – by their own work. And it didn’t work.
The thing is, they knew that there was a God. They knew of Him and they wanted to get to Him and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.
Eventually, the Lord sent prophets to tell the people what the Lord is saying to them. He used the prophets to tell them in a manner they could understand. He told them many times that He is the only God, there is no other. And this is true, even today.
We need to look at what are the truths that we have today.
There is only one God. There are NOT many gods. It doesn’t make any difference what the Pope says either. He is only a man, not God.
There is a physical life and there is a spirit world or universe. We are now in the physical world, but when we die, we will go to the spirit world (or universe?)
There IS a heaven and there IS a hell. Many people believe there is a heaven, but they don’t believe in hell. Hell is the absence of God, the creator. But there really is a hell. It’s not in this present physical world, but it IS in the spirit world or universe.
When you look through the Old Testament, you see the way God responds to what man does. He acted like a father who was trying to get His children to worship Him and give Him the Glory He deserves.
In the present age (2020) we have tried to go our own way. There are many who try to obey God’s will, but our democratic society generally does what the majority wants. This can be good or bad, however.
If the government is a God fearing government, then the population generally goes along with them. When our government was founded, it was founded on Godly principles. It was understood that prayer was necessary. Many of our founding fathers used prayer as a means to understand Gods will in their role in government. I’m sure that some still do today, but the government is not grounded in godly principles anymore. In fact, many try to evict God from anything to do with the government. That is NOT part of the Constitution. Article 1 says that Congress cannot make or prohibit making a religion or prohibit the free exercise of religion. Let that sink in for a bit. We’ll come back to it at a later time.
We look around in the U.S. and see many things that shouldn’t be happening. There is corruption in government, in the workplace, schools etc. Just look at the news and you’ll see it. They generally report the most visible people that are doing something wrong. Of course that doesn’t mean that they are the only ones doing the wrong things.
In the present day, we can see corruption in the government. As we get closer to the November (2020) election I’m sure we’ll see more. I’ve never seen such division between the 2 major parties as there is now. It seems that the parties don’t really care about the governmental policies that their party should be running on, but they only want to beat the other party. It seems as if nothing is off the table in their doing so.
Does it seem strange that the Corona Virus COVID-19 came to light as the November 2020 election draws near?
Thursday, 7/23/2020
As we all are affected by the COVID-19 virus, the feelings seem to go from one extreme to the other. Some people are trying to wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash their hands etc. like we are told to do. But on the other hand, many people don’t seem to care if they spread it or not. Some don’t even believe that it is real – they think it is just a hoax – until they get it themselves.
Aren’t most of us like this some of the time? We find it hard to believe certain things we are told because we have learned to check out things before we jump in with both feet.
But when we are told a truth and we think it is false, we may run into problems. That’s what happened to a young man who thought the COVID-19 virus was a false rumor – even though he had heard that many were in the hospital or had died from it. Eventually, he died from the virus.
This brings up the question: Are there any absolutes in the world? It’s not a good idea to trust the government in this regard because the government can change from one administration to another. Even the laws that are made sometimes become just a challenge to those who disagree with them.
But is there a right and wrong to certain things? Before I end for this time, I will say, “Yes. There are certain things that are right and certain things that are wrong – for everyone. But what I’m seeing today is that many people want to do what they feel is good. There is no “right” or “wrong” in their eyes. They just want to do their own thing. So they figure that whatever way they go is right.
But can we survive by just doing our own thing?