faith – Page 429 – Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment.

A Limerick about Sarah Palin and some thoughts about America.

A gal from the forty-ninth state
made “leaders” all bristle with hate.
She resigned from her post
to accomplish the most.
And now, she is Grizzly Mom Great.

On a totally? different note, here is a view from Canada, how the rest of the world sees us with our current “leaders.”

# 10 Only in America… could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 per plate Obama campaign fund-raising event, or demand $300000 for a speech at a university, claiming to be “one of them”.

# 09 Only in America… could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General and roughly 20% of the federal workforce is black while only 14% of the population is black, 40+% of all federal entitlements goes to black Americans – 3X the rate that go to whites, 5X the rate that go to Hispanics!

# 08 Only in America… could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner (former head of the Treasury Department) and Charles Rangel (who once ran the Ways and Means Committee), BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.

# 07 Only in America… can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash, and the administration declare it “workplace violence”.

# 06 Only in America… would they make millions of people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege, while they discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just ‘magically’ become American citizens. (probably should be number one).

# 05 Only in America… could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country’s Constitution be called EXTREMISTS.

# 04 Only in America… could you need to present a valid ID to cash a check or buy alcohol, or board a commercial aircraft, but not to vote.

# 03 Only in America… could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. Oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making sneakers (Nike).

# 02 Only in America… could you collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year – for total spending of $7 Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn’t have nearly enough money.

# 01 Only in America…. could the rich people – who pay 86% of all Federal income taxes – be accused of not paying their “fair share” by people who don’t pay any income taxes at all.

And Yet, the United States of America still stands. It is gives proof through the night that our flag is still there, o’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

The NEA to vote against RFRA. A Limerick.

To be voted on at the next NEA ( National Education Association) meeting: New Business Item A, submitted by the NEA Board of Directors:

“The NEA will develop educational materials for its state affiliates and members about the potential dangers of so-called ‘religious freedom restoration acts’ or RFRAs, which may license individuals and corporations to discriminate on the theory that their religious beliefs require such actions.

The materials will describe the current legal landscape at the federal and state level, provide model state legislative amendments to modify existing laws to prevent such discriminatory applications, provide talking points for advocacy, and link to existing resources for members and state affiliates to use in efforts to prevent the use of such laws as a license to discriminate.”

No RFRA NEA

Faith’s Freedom must not go away

God’s old truth called a lie.

That’s how freedom will die.

But Christ is still Lord; come what may.

The ACLU no longer supports religious freedom. A Limerick.

News headline: ACLU: We’re Not Defending RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) Anymore

The ACLU just reported:

Religious freedom supported

is a thing of the past.

I say: This must not last!

Our freedoms must not be aborted!

source: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2015/06/28/aclu-were-not-defending-religious-freedom-laws-anymore-n2018582?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

Forgive, the life changing message.

The folks that forgive here on Earth

have treasures of heavenly worth.

For as Christ did forgive

on the Cross, they might live.

In His death, He proclaimed the new birth!

And this, my dear friends is why the Cross, Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection is an offense to the non-believer.

They refuse to acknowledge sin, and cannot grasp the Christian concept of forgiveness: Because He forgave us, we too must forgive, and in so doing become more like Christ.

It was in Antioch, Syria they were first called Christians. It was meant as a derogatory term, but the believers were it proudly, and it took. It survived through the early persecutions through love and forgiveness. Many were martyred for their beliefs, but through their testimonies the Church grew stronger.

The times of persecutions have returned. There are now more people martyred yearly then at any time in history. We are seeing it in so many ways. Yet, true Christians forgive. We have been given many examples of true Christian forgiveness. Let me mention just two:

cityRUNDATE:100406--Two Amish young women from Michigan came to the West Nickel Mines Amish School, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006, to grieve for the killed children that were shol on Monday, in Lancaster County. The two came with a small group that had came to Pennsylvania for a wedding.(PHOTO BY GARY DWIGHT MILLER) — cityRUNDATE:100406–Two Amish young women from Michigan came to the West Nickel Mines Amish School, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006, to grieve for the killed children that were shol on Monday, in Lancaster County. The two came with a small group that had came to Pennsylvania for a wedding.(PHOTO BY GARY DWIGHT MILLER)

On October 2, 2006, a shooting occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV took hostages and shot ten girls (aged 6–13), killing five, and wounded the rest, some very severely, before committing suicide in the schoolhouse. It received worldwide attention, and press and TV reporters descended on the small community. The Amish responded like they always do, mostly silence. The wife of the murderer was invited and went to the funeral of at least one of the girls. The Amish message was consistent, forgive and choose to not remember the offense. To that effect the one room schoolhouse was torn down, the privys and the fence removed and the ground plowed. A week later there was no indication there ever was a schoolhouse there. Another schoolhouse was built nearby. This act of forgiveness was broadcast over the whole world. It even reached the Kurds of Iraq. A pastor, a couple of Amish believers and a Christian psycho therapist were invited to Iraq to speak with the Governor and some doctors about this concept of forgiveness. They were then invited to teach about the healing effect of forgiveness to a multitude of health care professionals. Their message was given, and accepted by the Kurds. Only in Christ can we find forgiveness and be able to forgive. The Kurdish doctors accepted their message with awe, this forgiveness is unknown in Islam.

At the bond hearing June 17, 2015 of Dylann Roof, the murderer of 9 in Emanuel AME Church in Charleston S.C. something very unusual occurred. One after another of the family members of the victims stood up and proclaimed their deep sorrow for what had happened, but they forgave him in Christ, prayed for his soul and asked him to repent and turn to Christ. This was Christian living in action.

No such forgiveness exists among the secular people, nor can it be found in any other religion, especially not in Islam. They still have not got over the loss of Spain. Yet the Christian message of forgiveness has survived nearly two thousand years, from Christ’s words on the Cross “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” to Stephens exclamation “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” when he was stoned to death as the first Martyr. This message will be victorious even in the coming battle.

Some thoughts on the horrendous murders in a historic church in Charleston, S.C.

After the horrendous murders at the historical Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina 17 June, President Obama said early the next day at the White House. “At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this kind of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.”

Not to be outdone Hillary Clinton said at the beginning of scheduled remarks at the annual National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in Las Vegas: “We have to face hard truths about race, violence, guns and division,” and then continued: “How many innocent people in our country from little children, church members to movie theater attendees, how many people do we need to see cut down before we act?”

The Nordic countries have very strict gun-laws, and the murder rate from guns is much lower than in the U.S. Yet , they have had their fair share of mass murders,

Scotland, population 5.1 million.
Shortly after 9 a.m. on March 13, 1996, Thomas Hamilton, a 43-year-old former Scout leader, burst into the gymnasium of a primary school in the tranquil Scottish town of Dunblane.
Within minutes 15 children aged five and six had died in a hail of bullets. One died later in hospital. Their teacher, Gwen Mayor, a 44-year-old mother of two, died in the attack, reportedly while trying to shield her pupils. Two other teachers were also seriously injured while heroically trying to protect children. Hamilton turned one of his four handguns on himself and was found dead at the scene.
Norway, population 5.1 million
OSLO — A lone political extremist bombed the government center here on Friday, killing 7 people, the police said, before heading to an island summer camp for young members of the governing Labor Party and killing at least 80 people. The police arrested a 32-year-old Norwegian man, Anders Behring Breivik, in connection with both attacks, the deadliest on Norwegian soil since World War II. Breivik was at first accused of being a fundamentalist Christian, but as the investigation started it was established he was bent on reestablishing Nordic Pride including the Nordic Gods and the time-old traditions.
Finland, population 5.3 million.

on November 7, 2007, at Jokela High School in the municipality of Tuusula, Finland, a gunman, 18-year-old student Pekka-Eric Auvinen, entered the school armed with a semi-automatic pistol. He killed eight people and wounded one person in the toe before shooting himself in the head; eleven others were also injured by flying shattered glass. Auvinen died later that evening in a Helsinki hospital.
He described himself as “a cynical existentialist, antihuman humanist, antisocial social darwinist [sic], realistic idealist and godlike atheist”

A year later, on September 23, 2008, at the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences[4] in Western Finland, a gunman, 22-year-old student Matti Juhani Saari, shot and fatally injured ten people with a Walther P22 semi-automatic pistol, before shooting himself in the head. He died a few hours later in Tampere (Tammerfors) University Hospital. One woman was injured.

Here are 4 horrendous shooting murders in very civilized and advanced countries in less than 20 years. The population of U.S. is 20 times larger than the combined population of Scotland, Norway and Finland. To have the same frequency of horrendous murders the U.S. should expect 80 mass murders in 20 years, of about 4 a year.

The common thread of these mass murders is that they occur in gun-free environments. Obama’s assertion is therefore false, Hillary’s call for action is even worse: Removing legal gun ownership, but ignoring the multitude of illegal firearms, expanding gun-free zones to include whole high crime districts, leaving the illegal weapons possessors to rule those areas.

(The picture to the right shows the perpetrator, Dylann Roof with a jacket with the insignia of apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia, from his Facebook page, now taken down. Warning: The patches may be photo-shopped. One never know those things anymore.)

What is the solution?

Governor Sarah Palin had a fantastic link on her Facebook page : Prayers for Charleston: http://www.ijreview.com/2015/06/347576-the-only-comment-on-dylann-roof-s-facebook-profile-photo-will-bring-you-to-tears/

Trust me, it will bring you to tears. Pray!

The Bosch Fawstin cartoon of Muhammad. A Limerick.

If “You cannot draw me” means fiefdom

then “That’s why I draw you” is wisdom.

This Bosch Fawstin cartoon

does Muhammad lampoon.

Islam* means to stamp out our freedom.

Islam means submission. It originally meant submission to the will of God, but has morphed into submission to Sharia law as interpreted by the local governments, the Mullahs, the Imams and above all the Caliph.

The Koran does not forbid drawing pictures of Muhammad. In 1935 a fresco relief of Moses, Muhammad, Confucius, Hammurabi and others was put up in the U.S Supreme Court building, and nobody objected.. The idea that all images must be destroyed came from the Taliban and they destroyed among other things the Buddhas of Bamiyan in March 2001 by the Taliban, on orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, after the Taliban government declared that they were idols.

Freedom of religion and speech must be defended at all cost, and Bosch Fawstin has asked his prize winning cartoon to be widely distributed, since the official media is not doing it and his Facebook page is taken down.

Update on the Earthquake in Nepal from Christian Missionaries.

The “Divine Mountain” rumbled again in Nepal. Yet, God is at work in even the most tragic events. This is a report from two Christian Missionaries in Nepal and their factual assessment of the situation, with pictures.

Earthquake Report from Nepal
April 25, 2015
__________
Many of you know that we live in Nepal and have been contacting us about the earthquake, so we are sending this report tonight.

We are fine and our church building in Kathmandu is alright, and as far as we know so far, all of the believers that we are associated with are fine.

The epicenter was 50 miles away, but it was a powerful shaking. You couldn’t stand or walk or run. You could only fall, and the major shocks lasted a long time. Aftershocks have been coming all day and into the night, and thousands of people are sleeping outside to stay away from the buildings.

Here in the city, most structures survived, though a great number are probably structurally damaged, but there still were many deaths. I took the attached pictures this afternoon. The dead bodies were laid outside at a nearby hospital, and there were many more in that one place. Triage units were set up on many of the hospital grounds. A 200-year-old tower downtown fell, killing at least 40 people. The cracked road is by the airport.

I took the photo of the burning bodies tonight.

The worse devastation is in the villages. In Garigau, three hours away, our church building and many believer’s houses were destroyed. The home villages of our main two preachers here, Dorje and Dipak, were largely destroyed. But we won’t get the full picture for a few days.

The electricity and main road to Kathmandu has been cut, and we don’t know how long it will be before it will be restored.

In Christ,
David and Linda Cloud

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Earthquake Report from Nepal – Update
April 28, 2015
__________
Hello Friends:

We appreciate your prayers and concerns in regard to the earthquake. The official death toll has passed 4,000, but I am convinced the true number is triple that.

For the record, Kathmandu survived the quake largely intact. It was mostly the very old buildings and temples that collapsed. The roads are open. The airport is operating 24/7. There is electricity.

In Kathmandu Valley, the greatest devastation is in Bhaktapur, an old city that was formerly the capital of one of the three ancient kingdoms in the valley. I visited there a couple of days ago and I would estimate that 20% of the buildings are totally ruined and 70% or more should be condemned and torn down. Beyond the valley north and west, the villages are devastated throughout central Nepal. Some are estimating that 70% of the houses collapsed in this heavily populated region, but in many places it is 100%. The Nepali army is 90% mobilized for rescue efforts and foreign help is arriving daily.

I don’t know what the longterm situation will be as far as food goes. People will probably be pouring into the city from the villages. Clean water is scarce already.

One thing you could pray for is the situation at Nepal’s only international airport here in Kathmandu. It is pathetically small with only one runway and limited parking space for planes. It was already seriously overtaxed with regular traffic because of Nepal’s heavy tourist trade and the massive number of Nepalis that work overseas, and the runway has long been in need of repair. If it breaks down, how do you repair or replace a single runway that you need to bring regular and aid flights in and out every few minutes?

The aftershocks have died down since the first two days, but they still come at infrequent times; therefore, many people are still afraid to return to their houses and are sleeping outside under tents and tarps though it has been raining every day. Many photos and videos of this have been published on the Internet, but for the most part these are not homeless people. They are simply afraid to return to their houses, though they are structurally sound. About 100 people slept in the church compound two nights ago, including a Hindu priest and his extended family. His sons are taking the gospel correspondence course. The Hindus have expressed gratitude to the church for welcoming them.

Attached is a photo of some of the people staying at the church compound. Linda is in the foreground. She has been able to have good conversations with many unbelievers who have been shaken by this event.

Some of the Bible School students are in villages trying to help their relatives. The rest have been helping the people staying at the compound, and they are getting worn down. Hopefully the people will go home soon. Our small facilities are overtaxed.

FEARS, RUMORS, AND GOD’S PROMISES

Aftershocks come in all varieties, from sharp, shocking jolts to barely discernible rockings and vibrations. Sometimes one is not certain if it is real or imaginary. There is no telling how long these will last.

Rumors fly at the speed of light, keeping the people stirred up and fearful beyond reason: “a big one will hit at midnight”; “they are expecting a 10 point quake…..”

Chicken Little is having a field day.

Meanwhile, for the believer every trial is an occasion to find fresh comfort and help and instruction in the Lord Jesus Christ, the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity and is ever ready to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Some of the Hindus have remarked at how much peace the Christians have in the midst of this terrible trial. Other Christians, though, have displayed more fear and uncertainty than is befitting a child of God. The believer must control his emotions and not allow himself to be controlled by the rumors and fears of those who have no hope. See Isaiah 8:12-14 and Psalm 91:1-6. In Psalm 42, David wisely instructed his own soul with God’s Word. This is how to use the shield of faith to quench the devil’s fiery darts of unbelief.

RELIEF HELP

We are trying to do what we can to help the people in the villages where we have Bible studies.

Today we are spending $5000 to purchase large bags of rice and other staples for each family in three villages three and four hours from the city, a total of about 300 families. Christian charity is hindered here by many cultural issues that are difficult for outsiders to understand, one being that if we only help the believers, the Hindus will charge them with being “rice Christians.”

We are prioritizing the construction of the church building in Gairigau. We plan to increase the seating capacity significantly and add a room for Sunday School. We are trying to order the construction materials this week while things are still readily available. The believers can possibly use the new church for living quarters while they rebuild their homes.

Many have asked what they can do. If you want to send gifts to help with the relief efforts, you are welcome to do so.

Again, the main thing you can do is pray that God will send a spiritual shaking to the hearts of the people that will be even greater than the physical shaking.

In Christ,
David and Linda Cloud

Hillary Clinton as spiritual head? A Limerick.

“In a June 2014 New York Times Sunday Book Review, the newspaper asked Hillary Clinton a series of literature-based questions. One of the inquiries sought to determine the one book that made her who she is today.

“‘At the risk of appearing predictable,” she responded, ‘the Bible was and remains the biggest influence on my thinking.”

Clinton noted that she was “raised reading it” and had memorized many of its passages. She contended that the Bible has guided her throughout her life.

“‘I still find it a source of wisdom, comfort and encouragement,’ she concluded.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took a feminist tone on Apr 23.She told attendees at the sixth annual Women in The World Summit:

“Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and laws don’t count for much if they’re not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper,” …

“Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will,And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed. As I have said and as I believe, the advancement of the full participation of women and girls in every aspect of their societies is the great unfinished business of the 21st century and not just for women but for everyone — and not just in far away countries but right here in the United States.”

Which brings us to a Limerick:

Will Hillary be our Mullah

with treachery just like Delilah?

With her Bible as guide

takes us all for a ride.

But babies are precious, not moolah.

Ode to Hillary Clinton. A song.

Hillary Clinton, a quaint graying lady,

In dealing with issues she always was shady.

From Watergate’s hearings to Whitewater’s loss

She always was aiming for that double-cross.

Then trading in futures by using a front-man,

and “suicide” Foster as FBI point-man.

The Travelgate failure, she thought they would fold,

The Rose Law Firm docket, her lies were so bold.

And then there were scandals, too many to mention,

Her husband did somehow escape her attention.

With Monica, Gennifer, Paula, Kathleen.

She said she believed him, the truth left unseen.

. left: Gennifer Flowers

.middle: Paula Jones

.right: Monica Lewinsky

.far right: Kathleen Willey

She lied through her teeth about deaths in Benghazi.

Obama and Rice truthful? – Not even quasi.

The cause was a video, that’s what they said.

We now know for sure that we all have been had.

But wait!, There is more, there is that e-mail server,

wiped clean of all evidence, congress won’t serve her.

dishonest and treacherous, that is her name:

She wants to be President, her claim to fame!

And then there is graft-ridden Clinton Foundation,

and sell our Uranium for a donation.

And millions in speaking fees, Clintons got rich!

Crony Capitalists! Speaking of which. – Or is it witch?

(Hillary Clinton will serve as a keynote speaker at the Cyber Defense Summit 2019)

As Cybersecurity expert in making,

She still is supreme in sincerity faking.

For she was not a sloth,

no, she wiped with a cloth

her server, top secrets for hackers free taking.

It is guessed that her unsecured e-mail server had been accessed by at least five foreign entities, we will never find out who, since the server had been wiped clean using BleachBit after the server had been requested to be preserved for evidence of potential hacking.

Verse 39 of the Obama Impeachment song? What framework?

Verse 39 of the Obama Impeachment song. (As if sung by Obama to the tune of “Please release me. let me go”).

All my “facts” are lies and spin

the Mullahs said with gleeful grin.

In this pact Islamists win,

my treasonous acts will do me in.

Here are a few samples of responses from Iran:

“The solutions are good for all, as they stand. There is no need to spin using ‘fact sheets’ so early on,” tweeted Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif.
“In the framework of the agreement, none of Iran’s nuclear facilities as well as the previous activities will be stopped, shut down or suspended and Iran’s nuclear activities in all its nuclear facilities including Natanz, Fordow, Isfahan and Arak will continue,” said an Iranian state-run Press TV report.

Iranian media also reported that all of the UN Security Council, United States, and European Union sanctions against the regime will be lifted immediately, once the Joint Plan of Action has been implemented.

The complete Obama Impeachment song.