IN A NUTSHELL, BRIEFLY

Having some interesting internal shifts...... kind of like seismic seizures of the spirit. This afternoon have been reading and taking notes on the book I'm reading, INNER RIVER. This has helped me understand some of the internal workings in my being lately.

So, "seismic seizures of the spirit" just kind of indicates that I have a way with words, especially if they are alliterative. These internal things are not like the "spiritual emergency" I had several years ago, but are pushing me, gently and now not so gently, to move on to another level. It's kind of pleasant to plateau, some of them can be quite nice. And I've been concerning myself with what God is doing in Jack......  I've gone from plateau to plateau over time, and while it can be invigorating, it can also be tiring. Climbing up that Ladder to Heaven, that Holy Mountain..... climbing is a verb, and up is against the natural inclinations of gravity. 

Of course, what my husband is going through affects me. His forced retirement which reduced our income affects me. His bad moods about that and not finding another job affect me. But how they affect me...... is a mover to my own crisis, opportunity, and hopefully growth. 

So, in this book, written by a Greek Orthodox laymen, sociology professor at the University of Maine, who has had for many years an elder-type relationship with a monk, an abbot, from an ancient monastery on one of the Greek Islands, Cyprus, that retains traditions from the time of St Paul who preached there....... 

has given me a framework, which is just a way of thinking, that is different from what I've been exposed to via my Evangelical upbringing and Catholic catechesis. Don't worry, I'm not converting to yet another church! It's just that some of those things rumbling around inside, that I have been without the words for, now may have them. 

I want desperately to have more Quiet Time, more personal relationship with God? Almost like a complaint---- but not quite---- as we know that God HATES complaining---- and mostly I'm pleased with the life He has blessed me with, busy though it has become. More like a lament--- longing for Him, just for His Presence, with me and around me and in me, that "As a deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after Thee...." sort of thing.

And it's not been like a depression--- even though at times our moods have been down, dealing with job disappointments and stresses with the kids and grandchild--- in that the things I have and the activities I engage in for the most part do give me pleasure. I like where I live well enough and I enjoy keeping it (it's just not HOME), the food we have is fine and I enjoy cooking it, love my kitty and snuggling with her, love my books and notebooks and computer, enjoy going to work and being productive doing something I honestly consider worthwhile, enjoy taking walks and going swimming at the YMCA, and truly love my husband and being with him, in every way. It's just that it's not quite enough. Which of course we know that the things of this world are not--- enough--- and such pleasures are fleeting and will fade in the, for lack of a better word, Immenseness of Eternity. 

So, briefly:

Orthodoxy speaks of humans being created in the Image of God, that we have the Icon of the Divine built into us. This was shattered in the Fall. (MY NOTE: "All the kings' horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again", though a nursery rhyme, refers to the prophets and priests and our fallen and shattered condition.). 

Christ's historic presence was of the Divine Archetype Manifest (AKA Word made flesh). His coming, and especially the Crucifixion was the Therapeutic Event which helps us heal our estrangement from God.

And so we have the Ecclesia, Church, meant to be a Spiritual Hospital, whose mission is to help us overcome our Existential Illness (Original Sin). It prescribes Askesis, Spiritual Exercises, such as Fasting, Prayer, Scripture Study, Vigils, Confession, Communion, as methods to restore humanity's wholeness & spiritual health. These can be likened to Physical Therapy, which prescribes exercises to restore movement & functional abilities.

Orthodoxy refers to the Threefold Way: 1) Catharsis- purification of the soul from egotistical passions

                                                                      2) Fotisis- illumination and enlightenment of the soul

                                                                      3) Theosis- union of the soul with God

Not to put too fine a point on it, but these are stages a soul goes through in its development, much like a body goes from little to big, though crawling to walking to running and back again,  and a mind goes through stages in talking, reading, intellect and beyond. Not all persons develop to the same degree, whether physically or spiritually. We have limited choice about the physical, though we do have some, being able to maximize our chances of health or illness, our ability to understand the world around us, and so we have choices in the spiritual. 

{CHOICE is also an interesting phenemena, but I digress. Another time. Perhaps.}

So it appears that I've been at Stage 1 for a LONG time, that of Catharsis. Not that I'm done with it, purification is continually necessary, on a daily and moment-ly basis. It's built into the "Twelve Steps" in fact, as crucial, to overcome addiction, considered to be a particular Spiritual Illness. So we search our souls and "when wrong promptly admit it" and if  possible, go frequently to Confession. Lifelong process, purification.

Nonethless, at a certain point, that only God knows, we are pushed from purification to move on to Fotisis, the stage which prepares our souls to meet Him. Of course, we meet Him from time to time, experience a felt sense of His Presence here and there. Sometimes we experience this a good part of the time, sometimes not. This is where I am now, and it's frustrating, very.  But now I have hope, that climbing up again, I'll eventually get to new places, and come to a new plateau. 

Just like Much-Afraid in the book HINDS FEET ON HIGH PLACES! Her companions on the Way were Sorrow & Suffering...... But she knew The Shepherd and got to know Him better, become closer to His heart.......

Anyway, that's the gist of it.    

CENTERING PRAYER

“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”

Frederick Buechner, Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation

WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH

WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE SERVICE YESTERDAY AT "One New Man (Creation)" at Steele Creek Church of Charlotte! 

It was Thanksgiving weekend and a number of families were out of town but someone counted 56 Adults attended! A number were new! The GLORY of GOD is getting stronger & stronger in the meetings filling God's Holy Temples so we can be carriers of His Glory into a world full of darkness. 

The Worship time was powerful, the Words coming from members of the body straight from the Throne Room of Heaven were anointed, unified by theme, and lead right into the message God had placed on my heart concerning the call of the church to NOT retreat, but to receive the Sword of the Lord of boldness and Holiness! We are to stand against the gates of hell. The voting booth in this past election was powerful in setting the course for America politically for the next several years! BUT the vote we cast by entering into the Holy-of-Holies through prayer and intercession is far MORE powerful because it affects eternity! 

We are NOT insignificant. The church needs to NOT retreat and hide from standing for God's righteousness and standards for morality. Yeshua (Jesus) called us to be the SALT of the earth. This is a call for us to declare and preserve what GOD has called HOLY. We are the SALT of the earth, but if the salt looses it's power (preserving power) it will be trampled under the feet of those who are in darkness.

The main reason the church has been loosing its influence and POWER is because we have abrogated our responsibility of being the SALT of the earth. We must first follow the instruction of God for ourselves to be that SALT. God shares His instruction to us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 ... "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

It doesn't matter what the WORLD apart from Messiah Jesus does - there has been great power and authority given to the blood bought people of God (Jews & Gentiles) who have been born-again. We are HIS PEOPLE CALLED BY HIS NAME. But just being that and knowing that isn't enough. God says what is to be done NEXT...

If they "Shall humble themselves" - The church as become boastful, arrogant and prideful. In Romans 11:18-21 Paul speaks prophetically to the Church of Rome which happens to be the MOTHER of all Protestant Churches today (whether you like it or not) and Paul warns against the arrogance and unbelief that caused Israel to stumble and not recognize their Messiah.

Romans 11:18-21
18 Boast not against the branches (the natural branches being ISRAEL) . But if you boast (or are arrogant), you bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches (ISRAEL) were broken off, that I might be grafted in. (In other words boasting that "I am the chosen one of God - look at me - I can do NOTHING wrong - I am God's Child and now that I have been saved I can live the way I want to live - do what I want to do without regard to God's Word, commandments & precepts)
20 Well; because of unbelief they (ISRAEL) were broken off, and you stand by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches (ISRAEL), take heed lest he also spare not you (the Church.)

The ROMAN Church did not HEED the words of Paul in Romans. Pride and arrogance entered in. The Church under Constantine dishonored the PARENT (ISRAEL) and rejected their Hebrew Roots. They decreed that it was sin to continue honoring the FESTIVALS (God's Appointed Times) and instead put in place Festivals (Holy Days) of their own making. You can't find the ones we celebrate in the Church today in the Bible. Yet, to this day you can find the ones God Himself Instituted in both the Old & New Testament. The 5th Commandment states in Deuteronomy 5:16..."Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you."

When the Church in ROME dishonored their parent - ISRAEL (the Natural Branches) they brought a CURSE upon the Church that we are reaping to this day. They disconnected us from the ancient roots (our Hebrew Roots) which Jesus Himself made the way in which Jews & Gentiles can now be partakers of as One New Man. The consequences of this error of dishonoring the Parent (Israel) is twofold:

1. The first promise for honoring your parent was that you will live a LONG LIFE - the Roman Church received the fruit of their arrogance against the natural Branches (for their dishonoring their Parent Israel), schism after schism began to plague the church - the protestant church was born. A search for a way back to the Early Church in it's purity and power! With each revival a truth was uncovered and some ground was gained, but because they didn't go back to honoring the parent and repenting of their arrogance against Israel, the were plagued with another schism after another. To this day, the church for the most part, continues this process of breaking apart. Contention, confusion, hatred, pride and arrogance between one denomination against another continue. The church is wandering in the desert just as Israel did trying to go regain the land promised to them. Thus, the Church is NOT living the LONG LIFE promised to those who honor their parent!

2. The second promise to those who obey this commandment is that "things will go well with you in the land I have given you." This speaks of possessing the promises of God which are our inheritance as believers in the messiah. When Rome dishonored their Parent (Israel) the promises of God began to wane. The miracles, signs and wonders, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit diminished. Within the Protestant Church their has been a rediscovery of the Gifts given to the early church. Within the Catholic Church their have been a remnant who have rediscovered the truth that these are still for the Church today. But for the most part, the church has bought the lie that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (the Power of God) was only for the early church. They are no more. They had to have an explanation as to why we are not seeing miracles, signs and wonders as something NORMAL in the lives of believers. As great as the rediscovery of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit has been today in some circles, it is nothing compared to that which we read about in the new testament scriptures, and certainly nothing compared with the miracles, signs and wonders we read about in the Old Testament under Moses, Elijah & Elisha!

The other accusation against Israel is that they had a "form of godliness but denied the power thereof." (2 Timothy 3:5) You see that the Church both Catholic and Protestant for the most part has been reduced to a religious form of godliness without the POWER of the earl Church.

What we are attempting to do in these ONE NEW MAN (CREATION) meetings every Saturday night at 6pm is...

1. Repenting for the church dishonoring their parent ISRAEL,

2. Rediscovering the Hebrew Roots of our faith in Yeshua, The Torah has NOT been done away with, but rather, our relationship to the TORAH has been changed in light of what Yeshua (Jesus) ushered us into through the New Birth!
3. Honoring the Sabbath, the Holy Convocations (God's Appointed times) in light of their meaning in and through Jesus the Messiah.
4. Opening the meeting up for the Body of Messiah to be used in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (as done in the early church)
5. Understanding our need to become HOLY TEMPLES for God's Holy Spirit to dwell in fullness and power!
6. Going out for the meetings on fire, with a new passion and love for God and a desire to be witnesses of GOd's Kingdom to help rescue others who are perishing in the darkness.

In our meeting yesterday, God moved powerfully in all the above. Several in the meeting shared how every Sabbath Morning they go to an abortion clinic and hold church meetings. Women who were ready to abort their babies turned away from that decision. You see that is what I'm talking about. We are NOT insignificant. The church needs to NOT retreat and hide from standing for God's righteousness and standards for morality. Yeshua (Jesus) called us to be the SALT of the earth. This is a call for us to declare and preserve what GOD has called HOLY. We are the SALT of the earth,

Come and join us for our One New Man Services every Saturday Night. I am telling you thaty your life will never be the same again. Be filled with the Power & the Glory of the Rauch (the Holy Spirit) and get ready to take your place as a vibrant son or daughter of the Most High God of Israel, in and through Messiah Jesus!

by Warren Marcus-- a Messianic Jewish Believer in Jesus since October 1974., also an ordained Southern Baptist Evangelist, works in Media. 

Trust God and do good. Remain in simple faith, and walk in love.

LINCOLN

This is a truly outstanding movie! I highly recommend it....

It doesn't get into his salvation story. It is actually a slice of his life during maybe the last year or thereabouts. It shows him and the push to pass the 13th amendment, ending slavery, and shows the ultimate surrender of the Confederacy. It shows the death & destruction of our terrible civil War and the heavy burden he bore as he walked his destiny, his calling to this..."for such a time....".... engaging in politics, visiting wounded soldiers, meeting with widows and orphans. 

So though there are references to his hardscrabble upbringing, severe difficulties in relations with his father, and his learning from books and not in school, there is no real foundation revealed for the values he so deeply and tragically held through all this. And not just through the nation's difficulties and tragedies, but his own..... his mentally unstable wife, the loss of their eldest son, relationship difficulties with his middle son, and his youngest son's "strangeness". 

What Scripture he quotes is all Old Testament. Apparently he was a great storyteller, always with a point. He had a sense of humor, and he loved his family, but deeply took his responsibilities for the divided nation and its ultimate destiny very seriously. And he was honest; though he "played" politics, he refused to give or take bribes or  do things that were less than honorable.

So I think it will win some Awards for sure. Daniel Day-Lewis really "took on" Lincoln, as did Sally Field as Molly. The entire cast was superb. We always hope for a really good movie when we go and especially when it's a new movie and at the "better" theatres and we pay full price!

And the film kept selling out, repeatedly, even the later shows were already full we heard as we  were leaving the theatre, and today's shows were filling up. 

Despite our most recent election where though it was close, it showed our nation's character flaws ever deepening, when the majority voted for a man known for his socialist leanings, a direction not envisioned, worked through, fought & died for, but abhorrent to our God, and so should be to us who have inherited this and should leave at least as good a legacy and we received, we want a hero, an honest man with God-given principles unafraid to live them and push for them, even when many are against him, and against those principles. Right is right and wrong is wrong, and we mere humans cannot change this. We keep trying but it cannot be done. God created us and He created right and wrong; He is the Judge, the Author, the Finisher. We have choices and there are always consequences.

For Lincoln it was death by assassination. For this nation, a period of long and difficult, sometimes bloody Reconstruction. The South has never been the same. Sad but true, they lost their way of life and found it hard to recognize themselves. But their way of life was built on an unrighteous lie, that of slavery, based on race! And the nation continued on, towards its Manifest Destiny, which as we know, was frequently not a righteous process, and we still bear consequences for that, and for every choice we make, nationally, and individually. 

So in conclusion.....  if you can, go see this movie for yourself. Participate, briefly, in this man's life. LINCOLN.

DON’T DESTROY OUR ILLUSIONS!!

They tell the prophets to keep quiet. They say, "Don't talk to us about what's right. Tell us what we want to hear. Let us keep our illusions. Isaiah 30:10 

ISAIAH was a prophet raised up for the times!! He prophesied to Israel while many were brought into Assyrian Captivity.

During this time of political exile, the people did not want to hear what was "RIGHT" and how they must return to God. They wanted to keep their ILLUSIONS!! 

In fact, the Lord through the prophet rebuked them for looking to the "government" of Egypt for their answers and help. God reassured them that he would let the strength of Pharaoh fail them. (Is. 30:2-3)

During this time, what was worse is the people didn't want the "prophets" to speak words that would locate them, and really search them out, but rather to speak things that would enable them to continue living in their ILLUSIONS!!

Basically their illusions were that they could commingle with the world, making ungodly alliances and still be covered by God, adding sin to sin (Is. 30:1)

Isaiah continued to appeal to them to RETURN TO GOD and find true rest and then they would be delivered (Is. 30:15).

God would be gracious to them once their cry was DESPERATE ENOUGH!! (Is. 30:19)

THE CHURCH TODAY

In a similar sense, we too are living in a rapidly changing moral and political climate than we've been accustomed. Even more than ever the tide of depraved cultural values, are fast becoming emboldened as they continue to receive endorsement from the the highest office in our land. This will only increase the momentum of where the nation was already heading... Morally and Politically speaking.

In some respects, the CHURCH of the 21st Century here in America, will be known as the CHURCH in EXILE!! 

How will we respond to the change of environment? Will we turn to the Lord fully? Or, like Israel, will we continue to subscribe to those who preach things that will "tickle" our ears and not meddle with the ILLUSION that so many want to continue living in? 

The ILLUSION that the times have nothing to do with what God is wanting to accomplish within His Church and we shall go on as we have before, thinking that we will not be impacted.

My friends, the GLORY OF GOD shall be revealed, but it shall be revealed through an afflicted church. Beyond what we could've ever imagined.

We indeed shall be made to eat the BREAD oF ADVERSITY and will be passing through the WATERS of AFFLICTION. But through it all, may TRUE PROPHETS speak words in this hour that will shatter and expose the ILLUSIONS!! The ILLUSIONS that there will be no real suffering to endure, nor price to pay for what we believe. NOT TRUE... A MILLION TIMES NOT TRUE!

Let the oracles of God speak a WORD that will equip the remnant to LIVE UNDAUNTED during the days that are now fast approaching. And we all shall realize, that the GLORY that is about to be REVEALED is not worthy to be compared to the SUFFERING that this hour shall introduce.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. -Romans 8:18

Philip Cappucio, pastor, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

POST-ELECTION REFLECTION

Moses and the Gipper and the End of America

November 13, 2012

Elizabeth Scalia

I am relieved.

Now that a week has passed, and people have processed things a little, I can admit publicly what I have to date only said to a few close friends.

I am relieved at the outcome of the election.

This is not to say I am pleased. Regardless of what he said while addressing the University of Notre Dame, Barack Obama has amply demonstrated his willingness to ignore the rights of religious entities to exist and to operate—in ways that go well beyond formal acts of worship—according to their founding precepts. His administration has demonstrated its continued intention to “fundamentally transform the United States of America,” as he put it on November 1, by expanding the reach of government.

As the president might say, “make no mistake”: We do not come back from this election, and by “we” I mean America as we have known it; not with the present culture.

At National Review Online, Charles C. W. Cooke writes eloquently of this truth, but where he feels despair, I feel set free. This election has shattered, finally the illusion that if “good conservatives just keep fighting,” somehow “another Reagan” was going to come along and restore the “shining city on a hill”. For too long I have watched friends remain enthralled to the notion that a single man or woman equipped with rhetorical skills, a bit of spine, and right-thinking would be able to resurrect what is remembered by some modern conservatives as a golden age.

It’s not coming back because half the country didn’t want it,or didn’t even recognize what it had and therefore won’t miss it, and because for young adults and the generations coming up the backbone of conservative theory—rugged individualism, privacy, minimal government—is a complete non-sequitur; it does not compute. Their parents hovered and arranged play-dates and videotaped their every move; they went through public schools working on group projects rather than writing individual reports; they are less acquainted with an omniscient God than previous generations, and comfortable instead with the omnipresent camera and interfaces—the strange god of All Media, Interactive.

Quite unlike their parents, in other words, this is a generation less interested in their personal consciences; one tailor-made for living under authority, and with built-in limits to their liberties.

Is it a tragic thing that what we had is gone and won’t be coming back? Well, yes, because while it lasted it was the most remarkable engine for human freedom, ingenuity, and opportunity the modern world had ever known. But along with all of the goods we manufactured and skyscrapers we erected, we cultivated immense pride—a pride that overfocused us on the material rather than the spiritual aspects of prosperity (to do for others) and freedom (to live for others) and military might (to defend ourselves and others). When we overtipped the scales and became weighed down with McMansions we neither needed (with our 2.5 children) nor could really afford, when we began to manipulate the stock market, when we began to make war with drones and shrug off human life as “collateral damage” we justified it by saying we were the greatest nation the world had ever seen; exceptional and indispensible.

Like Moses, we let pride overcome our mission. The conservatives—obsessing on greatness—refused to acknowledge any weakness. But there is always weakness; not admitting mistakes is the greatest of them. By refusing to cede error or suggest moderation, the right allowed the left to grab on to moral arguments so few were making—about greed, and selfishness, and triumphalism—and to pervert them through the filter of secular statism, until limited taxation, individual accomplishment, and strategic military defense became caricatured as great moral evils, and most other matters became relative. In a great irony, the secularists who warned of encroaching theocracy just a few years ago claimed that the government’s way was the godly way and golly, the people were all right with that, because theological nuance just complicates things, anyway.

And that is how the GOP lost and the Democrats won; through pride and error. Our job at this point is not to save the nation. The nation is tumbling precisely the way the philosophers said it would when it became over-reliant on government. Our job, now is to save each other; to help spiritually strengthen each other for all that is yet to come.

Earlier in the week, I had an exchange with an overwrought woman who declared herself “done with God” because she had prayed for a GOP victory and felt abandoned. It became clear that the “shining city on the hill” meant everything to her; “America is not supposed to end,” she said. When I suggested that such pride might have played a part in this defeat—that Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land because of pride, and the GOP is no Moses—she railed again. When I asked her what she could worship in the nation’s stead, she replied, “nothing.”

That sort of immature faith will not sustain us through the difficult times ahead.

Believers who feel defeated by this election have actually been given a great gift; they’ve been given the opportunity to divest themselves of the sin of idolatry and pride. The battle is not between parties; it is between things seen and unseen. It is between light and dark. The stuff before our eyes, all these earthly concerns, earthly governance—it plays out ultimately for the profit of our souls, not our retirement accounts. If we are professing Christians then we understand the narrative is moving forward to a certain conclusion; the pageant of salvation leads, always, to a complete divesting of everything that has come before. The only way to victory, now is to put the Gipper to rest, and play strictly for God. And God’s ways are not our ways, his thoughts not our thoughts, his “shining city on a hill” like nothing in our imagining.

Elizabeth Scalia is the Managing Editor of the Catholic Portal at Patheos and blogs as The Anchoress. Her previous articles for "On the Square" can be found here.

AMERICA:TRUTH IS FALLEN DOWN

AMERICA: TRUTH IS FALLEN DOWN WITHIN OUR STREETS AND IT'S CRYING OUT TO THE CHURCH

"And JUDGMENT (Right Verdicts) is turned away backward, and JUSTICE standeth afar off: FOR TRUTH IS FALLEN IN THE STREET (Public Plaza), and equity (HONESTY) cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil (The LAW ABIDING CITIZEN) becometh a prey (VICTIM): and the LORD saw it, and it DISPLEASED HIM that there was no judgment (RIGHT VERDICTS)". (Isaiah 59:14-15)

HELP ME I CAN'T GET UP

We've all seen them. Those TV adds where a helpless senior falls and while on the ground the poor woman is crying out, "HELP ME, I CAN'T GET UP". But no worries, because she is wearing some small medical device around her neck, that when she presses the button, it transmits a signal and automatically dials a special help line where in short order INTERVENTION will soon arrive. 

In AMERICA, I hear TRUTH crying out within the public Square, because it is there, where IT HAS FALLEN DOWN WITHIN OUR STREETS (Public Plaza). 

UNLESS we LIFT UP TRUTH and get TRUTH back upon its FEET in the Public Plaza... HONESTY will never find a door of entrance and JUSTICE will also fail. The LAW ABIDING CITIZEN will become the true VICTIM within our nation, because PROPER VERDICTS will have been turned away backward! And all of this will be very displeasing to the Lord.

GOD'S WORD PROVIDES US WITH A MORAL BASE FOR OUR LAWS

From our inception the laws of this nation were predicated upon the TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD. We were sure to not make the BIBLE our OFFICIAL NATIONAL RELIGION BOOK, but for all intents and purposes it was our PRIMARY "MORAL CODE" BOOK for sure.

Our NATIONAL MORAL CODE was gained from the ABSOLUTES of God's Word. In fact, there was a day when they were so identified with who we were as AMERICANS, that the phrase "AMERICAN TRADITIONAL VALUES" was easily coined.

Having a proper an absolute standard as to what should be considered TRUTH, MORALLY speaking is an essential and most foundational component for the purpose of making a CIVIL GOVERNMENT and JUSTICE SYSTEM operate properly.

Over the course of the last 40 years, those TRUTHS having to do with a MORAL STANDARD that is contained within God's Word has been mocked and all but removed from the public square. Instead, we have elected to welcome into our class rooms and lecture halls, a new emphasis like SECULAR HUMANISM and SITUATIONAL ETHICS. These have become the primary ideologies that have been shaping the minds of a generation. 

Today, that generation has long since walked off their GRADUATION PLATFORMS of the government schools they had attended. And they have walked into our HALLS of GOVERNMENT and a good number have found their way behind the NATIONAL TV NEWS desks, as they visit your home every night, philosophizing through their commentaries. Listen closely and you'll hear mocked what was once esteemed as a nation.

CHURCH IN AMERICA, we must not stand idly by, and remain silent NO MORE! 

The TRUTH we hear and applaud and shout 'AMEN' over on Sunday mornings. If that is where it begins and ends for us, that is NOT ACCEPTABLE!! In fact, that is how we got in this mess in the first place. We MUST live and be willing to express what is still TRUE out in the STREETS of our culture!! 

Only now, there will be a rising price tag within our nation to do so!

Please, listen and I assure you that what you'll hear is...

TRUTH crying out to the CHURCH in AMERICA, "HELP ME, AND LIFT ME UP BECAUSE I'VE FALLEN WITHIN YOUR STREETS"!!

By the Rev Philip Cappuccio

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Meaning of Yesterday’s Defeat

Yesterday was a comprehensive disaster. Here in Minnesota, to add a local perspective, not only did the state go for Obama–no surprise there–but the Democrats recaptured both houses of the legislature, and voters defeated two ballot initiatives, one on gay marriage and one on voter ID. Similar losses were sustained across the nation, although there were a few bright spots here and there. So yesterday’s defeat was not about a flawed presidential candidate or presidential campaign.

What lessons can we draw? To begin with, conventional political wisdom was upended in a number of ways. When a president runs for re-election, the campaign is a referendum on his performance; undecided voters break against the incumbent; it’s the economy, stupid. These and other familiar maxims can be consigned to the dustbin.

But there is a much more important proposition that, I think, was proved false last night: that America is a center-right country. This belief is one that we conservatives have cherished for a long time, but as of today, I think we have to admit that it is false. America is a deeply divided country with a center-left plurality. This plurality includes a vast number of citizens who describe themselves as moderates, but whose views on the issues are identical or similar to those that have historically been deemed liberal.

Decades ago my father, the least cynical of men, quoted a political scientist who wrote that democracy will survive until people figure out that they can vote themselves money. That appears to be the point at which we have arrived. Put bluntly, the takers outnumber the makers. The polls in this election cycle diverged in a number of ways, but in one respect they were remarkably consistent: every poll I saw, including those that forecast an Obama victory, found that most people believed Mitt Romney would do a better job than Barack Obama on the economy. So with the economy the dominant issue in the campaign, why did that consensus not assure a Romney victory? Because a great many people live outside the real, competitive economy. Over 100 million receive means tested benefits from the federal government, many more from the states. And, of course, a great many more are public employees. To many millions of Americans, the economy is mostly an abstraction.

Then there is the fact that relatively few Americans actually pay for the government they consume. To a greater extent than any other developed nation, we rely on upper-income people to finance our federal government. When that is combined with the fact that around 40% of our federal spending isn’t paid for at all–it is borrowed–it is small wonder that many self-interested voters are happy to vote themselves more government. Mitt Romney proclaimed that Barack Obama was the candidate of “free stuff,” and voters took him at his word.

The question is, can this vicious cycle ever be broken? Once we are governed by a majority that no longer believes in the America of the Founding, is there any path back to freedom and prosperity? The next four years will bring unprecedented levels of spending, borrowing and taxation. The national debt will rise to $20 trillion or more. When interest rates increase, as they inevitably must, interest costs will squeeze out other government spending. That might not be all bad, except that defense will go first. If Obama’s second term turns into a disaster, fiscal or otherwise, voter revulsion may return the Republicans to power. But that doesn’t mean that America will be saved.

To me, the most telling incident of the campaign season was a poll that found that among young Americans, socialism enjoys a higher favorability rating than free enterprise. How can this possibly be, given the catastrophic failure of socialism, and the corresponding success of free enterprise, throughout history? The answer is that conservatives have entirely lost control over the culture. The educational system, the entertainment industry, the news media and every cultural institution that comes to mind are all dedicated to turning out liberals. To an appalling degree, they have succeeded. Historical illiteracy is just one consequence. Unless conservatives somehow succeed in regaining parity or better in the culture, the drift toward statism will inevitably continue, even if Republicans win the occasional election.

This is not primarily the job of politicians, but politicians cannot escape it, either. I have been grumbling for a long time that Ronald Reagan was the last politician who made a real effort to teach the principles of conservatism to the American public. Since the 1980s, we have largely been coasting on his legacy. The prevailing assumption has been that America is a center-right country, and if Republican politicians run a good tactical campaign and get their voters to the polls, they will generally win. That strategy no longer works, and conservative politicians need to try much harder not just to appeal to conservative voters, but to help create new ones.

The stark question posed by the country’s unmistakable drift to the left is, does America have a future? Can we once again become a beacon of freedom, or will talented young Americans be forced to look elsewhere for opportunity? Barack Obama’s budget–the one that was too extreme to garner a single vote in either the House or the Senate–projects that in four years, we will have a $20 trillion debt. That debt will be paid off by a relatively small minority of our young people, the most productive. If you were in that category, and had to make a choice between staying in the United States and inheriting a debt that could well be $1 million or more, and starting fresh in another country, what would you do? And if you were an investor, where would you put your money? In the United States , where hopelessness reigns and where high unemployment and close to zero growth are now accepted as normal, or in a country with limited government and a dynamic, growing economy?

These are dark days, indeed.

November 6, 2012

United States of America
R.I.P.

United Socialist States of America 
Happy Fourth Birthday!

 
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.”
Alexander Tytler (1747-1813

Posted on November 7, 2012 

by John Hinderaker in 2012 Election, 

COULD NOT SAY IT BETTER MYSELF

A TIME TO WEEP

“...A TIME TO WEEP, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance...” (Ecclesiastes 3:4)

“And when he was come near, he beheld the city, AND WEPT OVER IT...” (Luke 19:41)

For three and one half years, Jerusalem heard His voice, witnessed His miracles; had seen His works of compassion and yet we are brought to this deciding moment concerning the city. One that brough

t Jesus to tears. For He knew what awaited them.

Every enemy that the city had been divinely protected from for centuries past would now be granted permission to completely decimate her... stone by stone!

Did Jesus believe that His “FATHER” was in control? Of course he did, but to entertain this obvious fact, did not prevent Him from WEEPING over their enevitable ruination.

And I’m afraid that if we seek to dust ourselves off a little too quickly and not be willing to deeply contemplate what last night's election meant for the prospect of this nation in coming days, then in the name of knowing that CHRIST IS ON THE THRONE, we will afford ourselves an opportunity to commit the sin of INDIFFERENCE!

Last night’s selection of President was beyond the two men who both ran for the office. It revealed just how far along and serious the sickness is that is within the soul of this nation. It is at a CRITICAL STAGE!!

As the church who has been sovereignly chosen to serve Christ within this nation and especially ministry people, let us enter into another aspect of the GLORY OF THIS CHRIST...

His heartfelt "PATHOS" that He himself expressed for cities and nations that were heading toward ruination. All because the city he wept over was willing to choose DARKNESS over LIGHT!

LET US REDISCOVER THE BURDEN OF THE LORD

It seems that everyone who God ever used significantly and ones who would ultimately bring about a “NEW DAY” or a much needed “TURN AROUND” if it was at all possible. Were those who first had to become so deeply TOUCHED, PAINED and BURDENED by the prospect of the ruination at hand.

Time nor space here does not permit me to remind us all about NEHEMIAH’S BURDEN; JEREMIAH’S TEARS; HANNAH’S BITTERNESS OF SOUL; DANIEL’S DEPTH OF INTERCESSIONS and many others who could be added to the list. And not to be forgotten is the record of our own Savior’s PRAYERFUL TEARS OVER A CITY!

THEY BOOED GOD & CELEBRATED OBAMA

I can’t help to think that when many of the same ones who were engaged in a “crazy” celebration over their choice for President, were the same ones who just a few months prior, vehemently and publicly “BOOED” God off their platform here in America... I WEEP!

When I realize that the man who will sit behind the desk in the Oval Office will see to it that Roe v WADE will become even more deeply woven into the fabric of our culture, by adding to its funding, Insurance Coverage... I WEEP!

When I realize, that the highest office within our land in Civil Government will throw his full weight behind the “constitutionality” of SAME-SEX marriages... I WEEP!

When I think about how our President thinks it is alright to be standing on the wrong side of every moral issue and still call himself a Christian (Christ Follower)... I WEEP!

When I think about how deep issues of immorality within this beloved nation shall be celebrated and have already become part of this administration’s “HOPE & CHANGE” agenda... I WEEP!

When I think how the pulpit was once the esteemed voice of this beloved country and now shall be sought to be silenced by politicizing what are forever considered to be moral issues by God and His Word... I WEEP!

When I remember what AMERICA as a nation once stood for and as a whole represented and the changes that have already taken place and shall continue to take place with an even greater momentum... I WEEP!

When I think about the fact that America now can boast in hosting the “LARGEST” Evangelical congregations numbering into the the tens of thousands than ever before within her history. The most popular preachers write NY TIMES BEST SELLING books. More PREACHING is present across the AIR WAVES and still our nation continues to grow more corrupt than ever before... I WEEP!

However, I will not ONLY WEEP!! But by God’s GRACE, I WILL WEEP; PRAY and PREACH and LABOR! And I shall do whatever I can or whatever God will have me do, to take the kind of STAND that these times will require and exact from all of us who call upon His Name.

Perhaps, as promised in the scriptures if we be willing to first “SOW IN TEARS” we shall then one day “REAP IN JOY”!!

It’s the morning after and so let us not be too quick to dry our tears or grant ourselves permission to be released from the present burden.

But instead, let us go throughout this land WEEPING, while bearing and sowing the PRECIOUS (rare) SEED of God’s Holy Word, and I don’t know what it will mean for America as a nation, but I do know and believe this with all of my heart...

WE SHALL DOUBTLESS COME AGAIN REJOICING, holding a HARVEST IN OUR HANDS!! (Psalm. 126:5-6)

by Philip Cappucio, Harrisburg PA

Pastor Phil began his full-time ministry shortly after getting saved at eighteen years old. He was called to a small church where his apostolic, prophetic, and teaching anointing was both discovered and developed. His love for the body of Christ, his obedience to God, and his prophetic gifting have taken him across the country and around the world encouraging and edifying the church.