The Power of One

The power of one. This is something I've been thinking of for about a week or so and while I have a bit of down time between classes, I figured I would address it.

We hear that “one is a lonely number” and there’s strength in numbers. Yes, those things are undeniably true. Sometimes, though, change starts with the power of one.

Two times a week I sit in a so-called political science class in which it seems almost every belief I hold sacred is ridiculed. In the mind of this professor, liberal equals good and conservative equals bad. She has been the subject of previous blogs I’ve written, quite a few Facebook status updates and numerous tweets. On a personal level, I find her to be a pleasant person who is quite likeable but who is also very dead wrong from so many standpoints including political, religious and historical.

As I sit through this class biting my tongue, I am blessed to know that I was raised differently, that I was actually taught the true history of America (even learning more about our Founding Fathers as I became an adult) and was raised in a Bible-believing, Christ-centered church. I also realize that my generation isn’t getting younger and there’s a generation coming up behind my generation that may well not know the rich history of this nation and are being indoctrinated in falsehoods and half-truths on a daily basis.

I look around and see everything topsy-turvy in this nation. Truly the Bible was right in saying in the last days evil would be called good and good would be called evil. I sometimes think that maybe our great nation is beyond hope and it’s useless to even try, especially when you have liberal professors spewing out leftist indoctrination, even going to a point of saying that socialism is good (yes, this was said the first day of class) and holding up the USPS as some sterling model of how well the government works. It’s enough to make one consider throwing in the towel.

Oh but that power of one! What can one man do you ask? History is chocked full of references to that “one man or woman” who made a difference. Just pick up a Bible and see how that those who had God and truth on their side turned things upside down! One person, as long as they have God on their side, is a MAJORITY!!!

Don’t be afraid to speak up for what’s right. Yes, you may get ridiculed for saying what’s right and even laughed at. I’m sure Noah, a great man of the Judeo-Christian heritage, was laughed and sneered at for building a boat when no one had saw rain before. In the end, though, he was proven right and I’m sure there weren’t many who didn’t wish they had listened to Noah. Speak up for what is right. Do your research on the topics that matter. When you’re told that Christianity played no role in the shaping of this nation, refute that with the facts. You never know who is listening and may have their way of thinking changed as a result of you standing up for the truth.

I also want to give a shout out here. As much as I love blogging/talking about the liberal professor I deal with, I’ve also had professors who make it a point of telling you to think for yourself and to research the issues before having a knee jerk reaction!

School Prayer

I was required to write an assignment on school prayer for my Diversity in American Schools class. I had to trim down my submission just a bit since it was just one page allowed. Here's what I wrote:


For close to 200 years schools were allowed to have prayer and Bible reading. The prevailing notion that the Founding Fathers of this nation were somehow scared of religion or were deists who were terrified of religion is simply not true. Here’s a quote from Benjamin Franklin himself:

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection! Our prayers, sir, were heard; and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor.”

This doesn’t sound like a man terrified of religion to me! Thomas Jefferson, while certainly not someone that would be classified as a mainstream Christian, did believe in Christ and even spoke of “Nature’s God.”

According to Noah Webster, another of our Founding Fathers and the founder of the dictionary named after him:

"No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”

Again, it doesn’t sound like he was terrified of religion in the government! As a matter of fact, Noah Webster is the man responsible for the Blue Back Speller, a book that was in use in American schools for over 100 years. If you wonder what’s special about it, a look at it will find it replete with Biblical references galore. It was a book that Benjamin Franklin used to teach his granddaughter with even. This doesn’t sound to me as men who would be against prayer in school.

Those who frown upon prayer or any mention of God in our schools point to the 1^st Amendment saying that Congress will not establish a religion. One only need to look at England and how they had a national church to see what our founders were attempting to prevent. They didn’t want a “Church of America” or a particular denomination having influence as did the Catholic Church in other countries where the ruler was expected to seek the blessing of the church. They were not attempting to wipe out every vestige of Christianity as the ACLU and militant atheist groups contend.

They will also point out that there may be non-Christians in the class. They have the right, at least in my opinion, not to participate in prayer. If the majority of students wish to have prayer, why should they be stopped? No one is trying to make this a “convert or die” scenario or making someone an outcast because they don’t subscribe to the majority view. 

What do we have to show for 52 years of forced secularization of our schools? School shootings, metal detectors, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, drugs, and other non-desirable things. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time we revisit the place that our Judeo-Christian heritage should have in our public school system.

I would also recommend a book to anyone who would like to research this further. What if the Bible Had Never Been Written by D. James Kennedy. It goes into great detail about the place the Bible has had in shaping not only American society but it’s place in literature and the arts including Shakespeare.

Blame the white guy!

As part of my college education I'm forced to take a class on diversity in American schools. Yes, there's diversity in schools; white people, black people, people of different ancestries, etc. I certainly don't think we need to go back to the days of segregation; that was wrong and should have been done away with.

As part of this course, I'm told in the book consistently how the white man is to blame for everything. The authors claim to be presenting no agenda and that they're neutral. Bull hockey! Anyway, on to the point of this blog. Our assignment was to choose between two scenarios and give our thoughts; I chose to do both scenarios and give my thoughts. The one on page 217 was of a child not being allowed to talk Ebonics in school and the parent crying racism; the one on 207 was of a child who didn't speak proficient English and needed to go to the restroom; it was plain what she was wanting but the teacher wouldn't allow her to go without speaking proper English. Following is the assignment I turned in:


I chose to do both situations actually.

I'll start with the one on 217. There is such a thing as standard English and it should be spoken in the classroom setting. You don't "axe" a question, you "ask" a question. I tire of hearing in the so-called mainstream media and in the book how that white people are somehow discriminatory against others and at fault for the "plight" of all minorities. I have to believe Martin Luther King, Jr. would be ashamed of this; this is NOT what he sacrificed his life for! MLK spoke proper English and said he dreamed of a society where one wasn't judged by the color of their skin. When people demand special treatment because they refuse to speak or learn proper English, it's not discriminatory and they should assume if they refuse to talk correctly that they will be viewed as less intelligent. I don't care if it is a white or black person talking in a non-standard form, they're going to be viewed as less intelligent. There are plenty of black people who speak proper English, are well-educated and have made something of themselves in politics, government and entertainment, people such as Charley Pride, Allen West, Clarence Thomas, Mia Love, Herman Cain, Bill Cosby and many others. Speaking of Bill Cosby, take some time to research his feelings on the whole Ebonics debacle. Per Bill Cosby (and Snopes has verified this as true):

They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain't, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father?

People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something? Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different'husbands' — or men or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.

We cannot blame the white people any longer.

If I chose to move to or visit another country for an extended length of time, wouldn't I be expected to fit into mainstream society? Why is it expected that mainstream society should be accepting of substandard English then? I can't go into a school or business and start talking like Jed Clampett, can I? I would be told that I know better! But yet because someone is of a different skin color than I am, they're given a free pass to talk substandard English. In reality, you're calling the black person stupid and saying they don't have enough sense to learn standard English in my opinion and nothing could be further from the truth.

My thoughts on the incident on page 207? The teacher knew full well what Malia wanted. Perhaps Malia wasn't well-versed in English and an exception should've been made. The teacher was wrong in allowing her to urinate on herself in front of the class and the teacher should face disciplinary action. However, we read on the next page how this left "lasting emotional scars" on Malia. Really? Please! Can I claim that my kindergarten teacher hitting my hand with a ruler because I didn't get a green crayon out fast enough to suit her left emotional scarring or that a high school choir teacher not allowing me to go to the restroom when I needed left emotional scarring? I had a well-known science teacher here at SEMO yell at me last semester because I didn't get string out fast enough to suit her; can I scream emotional scarring? While what Malia's teacher did was not correct and unacceptable it's also time for Malia to move past something that happened as a kid; too many want to blame their lot in life on something that happened in their childhood. At some point you have to move ahead and grow up.

Phil and A&E

I've been in a writing mood and was wondering what I could blog about. Thanks to the repressive folks at A&E, I have a blog!

Let me be clear up front. I'm not a huge fan of Duck Dynasty. My oldest son loves it; I can take it or leave it and actually find it to be on the silly side. It smacks of typical reality TV to me. Yes, I'm pleased they show Christian values and prayer but it's simply not my cup of tea.

I have friends and family who have chosen the homosexual lifestyle. Yes, I said "chosen." God didn't design a man to be with a man or a woman with a woman, end of story. There's NOTHING at all natural about a man wishing to put his penis into the anus of another man. However, that's not the point of this posting to debate whether homosexuality is something natural or not.

We have a Constitutional right to free speech. Phil Robertson exercised that right. I'm sure from a legal standpoint A&E can suspend him indefinitely from the show for whatever reason they want. However, had Phil came out in support of the homosexual lifestyle this would all be a moot point. He would be heralded as a hero and be given accolades for daring to be different. But because he disagreed with a MINORITY of the population, a vocal minority at that, he's going to be suspended from the show. Bull hockey!

What happened to the right of the straight guy being able to speak his mind? In college classes we're told how we're supposed to respect the "differences" of those around us. Well, it's about high time people start "respecting" my "difference!" I'm tired of being expected to roll over and play dead when I have a dissenting opinion that isn't politically correct.

However you choose to live your life isn't my business. I may disagree and I will pray for you but it isn't my business. However, if I'm asked my opinion of a lifestyle, I will most certainly state my opinion. It's a scary situation when people start being reprimanded for having an opinion. George Orwell certainly comes to mind right now..........

It matters who you date, Christian single!

13For men of this stamp are sham apostles, dishonest workmen, assuming the garb of Apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder. Satan, their master, can disguise himself as an angel of light. 15It is therefore no great thing for his servants also to disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be in accordance with their actions. (Weymouth New Testament)

http://biblehub.com/wey/2_corinthians/11.htm

When we watch an old cartoon or maybe look at a comic strip, how is Satan displayed? Usually as this comical little guy wearing a red suit, holding a pitchfork and having pointy ears and a tail. Now if Satan came disguised as that no one, I repeat NO ONE, would likely fall for his tricks. Instead he generally comes to us as something or someone that looks good and doesn't hold any appearance of evil. Indeed, the Scripture posted above bears this out. What does this mean for the Christian single?

There are many ways in which Satan might come at a Christian in an effort to entice them but I want to focus on this from an aspect of Christian singles who are seeking God for that someone special in their lives. As someone who's been through a bad marriage which resulted in a divorce, I can tell you first hand what the wrong relationship will do to your walk with Christ. Satan doesn't have just one trick up his sleeve, either.

Too many people have the idea of "missionary dating." Hey, if only I can get him/her to come to church with me, I can change him/her! Yeah, that's all it will take! I had the same idea as a teenager and even dated someone who wasn't a Christian. Now before I go too much further, let me say there's nothing wrong with witnessing to a non-Christian and inviting them to church. Dating them will likely lead to a disaster! A dear friend of mine gave me the illustration once of two people, one standing on the altar and one lying in the floor. The person on the altar is the Christian and the one in the floor the non-Christian. Which is going to be easier, pulling the person up or pulling the Christian down? Same thing will happen if you choose to enter in a relationship with a non-Christian.

Perhaps the most dangerous thing is the person proclaiming themselves a Christian who isn't. This falls into two categories. My pastor is a funeral director and he says that many times when he asks what religion a person was, he gets told "Baptist." That person hasn't darkened a church door in years but they claim themselves of the Christian religion. No pointy fingers here or no judgement passing. That person has to answer to where they stood with God. It's the second one that's much more dangerous to the Christian if they're not careful.

About three years ago, I met a lady online. We had both been a part of Christian Mingle and had a ton of mutual friends in common. We decided to see if there was something "there" between us. She seemed like a dream come true. Church secretary. She helped with the youth in her church and I believe even taught Sunday School some. She explained to me she was waiting for marriage and ANY guy who tried ANYTHING with her was out the door. Yes, sir, sounds great! If it sounds too good to be true.....

She "slipped up" one morning and suggested we should sleep together when I came to visit. When I called her out on it, well, it was a joke. Bad taste but a joke. Okay, we're human and mistakes happen. Other little things came up here and there but always she had an excuse. Hey, I'll admit it, I had been suckered in by all her smooth talk; I wanted it all to be true. Just like a car that we desperately want and we fail to check under the hood to see what problems there might be. When I finally did meet her in person, the "slip ups" weren't slip ups at all. This self-professed Christian lady did not at all portray the persona she had presented.

Be careful in what you'd doing, Christian singles! The devil would love nothing more than to trip us up. Trust me when I say a miserable relationship/marriage WILL hurt your relationship with God!

Christmas. To do or not to do, that is the question!

I'm a Christmas nut. Many, many moons ago my ex-wife and I decorated our little apartment in October. Shoot, I'm usually listening to Christmas music in August and I'm Walmart's first shopper in the Christmas section when they put it out.

I realize that many say Christmas has pagan origins and we shouldn't celebrate it. If that's your personal conviction, so be it. I would never attempt to shove Christmas down the throat of someone who didn't believe in its celebration. I would also hope that the reverse would be true; I don't wish to have someone condemning me because of my belief that it's alright. I think this comes down to what Paul talked about in the New Testament. He said some believed it okay to eat meat sacrificed to idols and others did not; he said that we must answer to Christ in regards to what we allow or don't allow.

Perhaps some of the Christmas traditions can be traced back to pagan influences. Number one, I've never been a pagan nor was I alive when the traditions were changed! Let me address the common arguments I hear and I will address them as to how I believe.

One thing I've always heard is that Jesus could have not been born on December 25th. You know, I'm not a theologian nor do I know enough about what the climate was during the time of year He was born. I do hear people make the point that it's always other religions honoring their deity on December 25th. I've always heard that Satan has an imitation for everything real. We find variations of Noah's flood in other religions. We find attempts in other religions to have a savior/redeemer. If Satan is the expert in copying Christianity for other religions, why not copy December 25th for these other religions? Again, there's nothing in Scripture to bear this out but it is a thought.

Another thing I hear often is the "Santa Claus myth" and/or how close "Santa" is to "Satan." I'll take this issue one thing at a time. People say that if you tell your kids about Santa that they will find out it's a myth and they'll also believe Christ to be a myth. Okay, I can see that point but I disagree. First of all, I don't, nor have I ever, prayed to Santa. I don't go to the First Pentecostal Church of Santa. I don't read a Bible about Santa. Growing up, I knew what was real and what was fake. I took Santa no more serious than I did Bugs Bunny or Woody Woodpecker. And for the Santa vs. Satan thing, a quick bit of research will fix that. Santa is another word for "saint." We have Santa Monica in California and there's also the Santa Anna winds; I don't hear anyone saying they must be a haven of evil!

Third of all, if Christmas were this huge pagan holiday that we should avoid, why do we have the ACLU fighting tooth and nail attempting to remove nativity scenes from the public square? We're talking the same group who wishes to remove any religious references from the public square including The Ten Commandments and other vestiges of Christianity. If Christmas offends them, it must not be a big pagan holiday, right?

So, here's my take on the subject of Christmas. I'm not worshiping a tree, not at all! What did Christ hang upon when He died for our sins? A tree! The Christmas tree of choice is an evergreen tree, a tree that stays alive year-round. That reminds me of the eternal life I'm promised when I die or go via the rapture. The decorations, well, I don't worship those either. They remind me of the beauty of Heaven. If we read Revelation it describes the Holy City and the beauty of it. The lights remind me that Christ is the light of the world and that we are to project that light to a lost and dying world. It could also remind us of the star that led the Magi to the Christ-child.

If you choose not to celebrate, more power to you; I won't condemn you or call you names. All I ask is the same respect for my choices!

Don't take your health for granted

I have to be desperate these days to go to see the doctor. The thought of paying cash for an office visit since I don't have insurance is frightening. Thankfully the nurse practitioner’s office I use allows a substantial discount for paying up front.  Laying all that aside, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of what happened.

I think a lot of you are familiar with the fact I’ve been dealing with some pain for over a month now, pain I blamed on wrestling with the boys and landing on my elbow. Eventually, the pain began to spread into my arm and shoulder. I even have dealt with shooting pains in my fingers. I scheduled a doctor’s appointment.

As always, I got weighed and had my vitals took. I showed to have gained about 1 ½ pounds since my last visit way back in February. Considering I was fasting in February and wasn’t on this visit, it shouldn’t have been alarming on that part but it alarms me. I was exercising like crazy earlier in the year, spending a lot of time on the gazelle and/or walking several miles per day. Not good.

I fell out of my routine and being in pain for a couple of months hasn’t helped anything. My blood pressure was up (not dangerous by any means) as was my heart rate. This is NOT good. I’ve been forcing myself to get back on the gazelle lately. I may be sore afterwards but the weight has to come back off and the blood pressure MUST come down. I’m not proud of myself but what good will I do to beat myself up?

Here’s to starting the journey of healthiness again.