Translate

Friday, November 2, 2018

The Importance of Voting in the Mid-terms [Our Christian and Democratic Worldview is at Stake]







"One day Jesus said to His disciples, 'Let's cross over to the other side of the lake.' So they got into a boat and started out. On the way across, Jesus lay down for a nap, and while He was sleeping the wind began to rise. A fierce storm developed that threatened to swamp them, and they were in real danger. 
The disciples woke Him up shouting, 'Master, Master, we're going to drown!' So Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waves. The storm stopped and all was calm! Then He asked them, 'Where is your faith?'" -- (Luke 8: 22-25. NLT).

We, too, have to have faith and believe that God is in charge of everything, including the storms of life. Recently, though, we have not lived as God wants us to live, i.e., as a nation that should be focused on him. That is why our nation is in a terrible storm. But if we are willing to do our part, I believe that God will give us another chance to be a nation blessed by Him and that He will calm the storm. But at the same time, we must do our part to keep our country focused on truth, honesty, and love. That is why we must know what our country needs and we must be willing to get out and vote for those people whom we believe will live up to truth, honesty, and love for our country and its people. 

Although it is always important to vote, this year it is extremely important for those who believe in our country and in our established way of life to get out and vote. Why? Well, we are at a crossroads in our country. One path will take us down the tried and true path of destruction and false equality that leads to poverty for the majority and wealth for only a few i.e., into socialism, which will eventually morph into communism as fewer and fewer people are allowed to be wealthy. The other path, the one that we have been on, leads to continued freedom, capitalistic opportunities, and the continued individual pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. But, if fail to know what we are voting for, if we fail to vote, or if we vote to allow the progressive liberals and declared socialists into the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as into our local and state governments, we will be walking down the path that leads to total socialism and eventually to communism. Certainly, if we fail to get out to vote for the conservatives who believe in democracy, capitalism, and the truth, we will then allow those liberals and socialists who get into office to lead our country into Venezuelan type socialism and capitalism. So, this election and the next one in 2020 are the most important elections we have yet to face. Please do not allow socialists and communists or the America hater, George Soros, with his billions which are funding Antifa and other hate groups, to take down this country that our founding Fathers worked so hard to establish. Vote!

Do you know anything about why or how America was founded?

So, why should we be voting? Well, if you or your children have gone to school in the last twenty to thirty years, you or them may not have been taught the truth about the founding of our country. What is that truth? Well, you should know that it was God who guided our founding fathers into writing the greatest Constitution that has ever been written. In fact, it is on the basis of this Constitution and the idea that all men are created equal by our Father in Heaven that we are to have not only equality, but the freedom that comes with it: i.e., the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And, for over 240 years, Americans have basically lived a life as close to true freedom as one can get. But in order to maintain that freedom, we have to get out and vote!

Yes, we have struggled over the years with a few areas of inequality, but we have continued to pursue equality for all, and we have continued to search for the truth. Up until ten years ago, our country was gradually making more and more progress with ensuring equality for all. Unfortunately, one president, who hid his hatred of our country to get elected, stirred up hatred and dissent by pointing out our past inequalities, which led people to believe that they were not making progress today, but that they were instead going backwards into more inequality. All the progress that had been made over the years was suddenly in jeopardy of disappearing as Obama stoked the fires of dissension and hatred toward whites.

Adding to this unrest and hatefulness, were the philosophical and even physical repercussions that we began to see as a result of the liberal teachers and professors in our educational system who over the last fifty years or so had begun to teach our students that our founding fathers were evil, manipulative, businessmen who had no altruistic bones in their bodies. These so-called liberal and socialistic educators had instead, been using our country’s past sins to teach that all white people still believed in racism and still believed in inequality for some people. These educators were either failing to teach the truth about our past and what America had fought against in WWI and WWII, or they were skewing the truth to fit their own agenda. Part of their agenda also included the introduction of socialism to students as the only way to make everything right and equal for everyone, with lots of hand-outs and money for all. The physical repercussions came about through riots and the physical refusal to allow those with different view points to speak on campuses. Only the voices of the liberals and socialists would be allowed to be heard. There was no longer freedom to have a different viewpoint or to speak about that viewpoint or worldview. 

Adding to the harassment of those with conservative worldviews, was the fact that many minorities and immigrants did not know the truth about our country’s past or even the truth about our present beliefs. They had been manipulated and lied to by President Obama and the liberal media over the last ten years. To make matters worse, they and the current college generation still do not know today that the main reason that our country has pursued equality and freedom for all is that we were originally created to be a free nation that lived for the One and only God, i.e., the Creator and God of the Universe. 

Knowing that God created us to be free, our founding fathers in the establishment of our country not only fought for our right to live the way that we wanted to live, but they fought for our religious freedom from Great Britain as well. In fact, our country was founded on the right of every human to pursue their own way of worshipping even if it included worshipping a god other than the true God that early on most people came to America to worship. That is because true freedom means that we have the freedom to choose whom we will worship even if it breaks God’s heart when people worship false gods and idols. So, our founding fathers put into the Constitution that our government could not force us into worshipping who we don’t want to worship. And, no one was to be harassed for their beliefs.

Capitalism and Democracy go together.

Our country was also founded on what has become known as a democracy which is based upon capitalism. Capitalism simply means that everyone has the right to sell their products for a price that another person is willing to pay. If the other person refuses to pay the price, then that person selling a product at too high a price will eventually go out of business. But, at the same time every person has the right to pursue a job or the right to create a business that will bring them a living, or a business that may eventually bring them an extreme abundance. And, as long as the person is not cheating, not being dishonest, or not hurting someone else, they can live freely, working at their favorite job or working at their established business; hopefully a business that will benefit not only the owner, but their customers as well.

Capitalism works well, because everyone has the chance to work as hard or as little as they want, and everyone has the chance to pursuit their dreams of becoming wealthy through hard work and through legal means. But, in setting up a government to protect the people who were living and working in the United States, it was determined that part of the Federal government’s responsibility in protecting the people of this country also included making sure that all the different businesses and different products did not hurt the people of the country. But, in order to not only provide safety, there was also was the need for taxes to be established, so that the people overseeing our safety and the infrastructure of the country could be paid. We needed taxes, too, in order to have an infrastructure, a military to protect the citizenry, and we needed taxes to build schools and libraries for the education of our citizens. Eventually, as our nation grew, and as it grew, we needed more and more government agencies to look after the nation’s interests, which also required more and more taxes to run the government.

The Difference between Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism.

The one thing that makes our nation different from many other nations is that we get to vote not only on how we want our country to be run, but we get to also vote on the people we put in congress who will determine the taxes needed to keep the government running. But, as power began to be the all-consuming reason for senators and representatives to want to be re-elected, the government grew ever bigger which meant that the government needed more and more taxes from the people. So, taxes were raised. But to stay in power or get power, lies and more lies were told by politicians so that they could get re-elected or so that some could get elected to have the chance at getting power in the first place. Therefore, it has become extremely hard to determine the motives of those running for office or re-election. That is why this has become the year of political scandals and the year of undercover videos outing the lies of the politicians. That is also why it so important for each of us to really read up about each candidate and then look deeply at what they say they support and will do, before we go to the polls to vote.

Until recently, most people thought that capitalism was great! Indeed, most people who have been taught about the true difference between socialism, communism and capitalism still think that capitalism is great. Unfortunately, over the last fifty years or so, our free educational system has failed to teach the truth to our students. And, a majority of professors are actually teaching and promoting socialism as the best way to live. In fact, our educational system has failed to teach our students the true history of failed socialism and communism around the world. And, our liberal and socialistic teachers have also failed to teach the students how to think for themselves or how to discern the truth from fallacy. Instead, the liberal and socialistic teachers have brainwashed our children into believing that capitalism is evil, so the students repeat what the professors have told them. Sadly, when our students get into college, the liberal professors, instead of teaching facts, require their students to believe what they believe or they will fail the students. In fact, most of these professors are liberals and/or socialist who want their students to believe what they believe.

It is so easy from early childhood through about age twenty-five to brainwash individuals into your way of thinking, if indeed that is really what you want to do. And, this is precisely what the liberal college professors do as they continue the brainwashing and skewing of the truth about our country. This is also why we have so much hatred spewed out upon our country and its citizens today. For, the liberal professors have basically armed an army of liberal students as weapons against capitalism and the truth. And, they are teaching their students to be proponents of socialism.

Socialism

The principles of Socialism were first advocated by Karl Marx (1818-1883), who was a German social philosopher and economist and Fredrick Engels (1820-1895), a fellow German socialist leader and writer, who was a close associate of Karl Marx. In the Marxist doctrine, Socialism is actually a stage in society that comes between Democracy/ Capitalism (Democracy and Capitalism is what the United States has believed in) and Communism. So, according to Marx and Engels, the social and economic stages of society would be Democracy/Capitalism, then Socialism, and finally Communism.

Although Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism each have a strong economic premise, it is important to understand the role of Democracy within Capitalism, because without Democracy, the economic principle of Capitalism could not be maintained. That is because Democracy provides a certain amount of freedom for capitalism, as Democracy allows the people of a nation to rule through fair voting and the exchange of ideas along with entrepreneurship which can benefit society overall.

Socialism, though, is an overall economic structure set up to rule and control people through the idea that there should neither be rich or poor people. There should only be people living together equally without waste and for the good of all. In Socialism, private ownership, once based upon capitalistic ownership and production, as well as on entrepreneurial enterprises, have all but been eliminated for the equalization of society. In other words, in the extreme, individuals can no longer develop and produce items to sell on their own, because all production and distribution is done by the government, so that supposedly everyone will have the same identical piece of the pie. For, in socialism, all members of society are to share in the work as well as in the products and the profits. Sounds altruistic doesn’t it? It also sounds boring unless you want exactly what everyone else has, which is basically very little. But it turns out that there is one group of people who will benefit greatly in socialism. The very rich will continue to be very rich, and they will not have to share. Also, if the production is not what it is supposed to be, then everyone suffers except the rich.

Democracy.

On the other hand, as opposed to a Monarchy or a Dictatorship that has only one person in control of the rule of the people, Democracy is supposed to be the rule of the people through chosen representatives of the people; not chosen because they are rich, but chosen through fair elections in order to make decisions for the good of the country and the good of all people. Moreover, the decisions and the rules that affect everyone in a democracy, including the rich, are supposed to be made through majority rulings.

But in recent years our true democracy has been dwindling away, because the minority has often demanded to have their way, and they no longer accept what the majority of the people want. And, in many cases, the minority has gotten their way. And, the minority is now trying hard to get their way over even bigger issues that affect all of us. For example, even though the majority of the people want the right to bear arms, given to us in the constitution, to be maintained, there are minority groups including liberals and socialist who are doing everything in their power to take away from all the people the right to bear arms. Now the liberal media is also doing the work of the minority for them by constantly beating the drums of “no guns” for anyone except policemen. Both the liberals and socialists as well as the liberal media are now foisting their worldview of a gunless society upon congress, as they constantly fight against our right to carry arms. They are against having guns to defend ourselves, and they want laws against having guns even if the majority of people do not want these anti-gun laws.

Socialistic and Communistic Worldviews versus Capitalism, True Freedom, and the Christian World View.

Some of what I have been posting at this time has been taken from a previous blog of mine written back in November of 2015. But I feel that it needs to be read again or read for the first time by those who didn’t get a chance to read it then, so that you can understand how important it is to know the candidates and what they stand for. Only then, can you make a good informed decision when you get out and vote.

Everyone needs to know that there are worldviews today that we thought would never again be part of the American culture. These worldviews came about with the advent of World War II in the late nineteen thirties and the growth of socialism and communism in the late nineteen forties and the early nineteen fifties. Because of the devastation of WWII and the oppression of those who lived under socialism and communism during the next few decades after the war, people could see what socialism and communism did to other countries and their peoples. They could see the bread lines and the poverty for everyone but the very rich. In fact, at one point our country was so afraid of the rampant communism, which was being promoted by secret communists and some educators living within the United States, that some in the government actually harassed the communists and anyone that did not agree with democracy and capitalism.

These were truly dark and shameful days for the United States and freedom, as McCarthyism reared its ugly head within our government. Everyone was afraid of communism because of what they were seeing happening in other countries as a result of the oppression by communism. Consequently, many people were harassed because someone thought they were a communist. Then Senator Joseph McCarthy decided to attempt to eradicate socialism and communism in the wrong way by ruining the lives of many people who may or may not have been communists. Consequently, America for a short period of time over reacted and oppressed those who were thought to be communists. Then, in realizing our mistake, we went overboard in the opposite direction, in showing that we were ashamed for what we had done, by allowing socialists and even communists to teach our young people in college.

Most true born-again Christians try to understand and accept the right of others to express themselves, but we also have to always seek the truth, while we work hard to expose the untruths, deceptions, and lies before they become the accepted norm. We also need to look closely at those who are teaching our children and make sure that they are not foisting their personal beliefs upon our children and students.

In the past, Christians have put their heads in the sand hoping that the things that are wrong in America will simply go away. But evil and those who are proponents of socialism, communism, and of negative ways of living will not go away. So, we have to understand what they want and why they want what they want. We also have to get out and vote so that our freedom and our capitalistic and democratic, and Christian way of life does not disappear.

So, why is it so important to understand the worldview of Capitalism? Well, in the Capitalistic world view, anyone who is willing to work hard, anyone who can think outside the box and come up with new ideas, and anyone who wants to succeed can start their own business if they are willing to work hard and do it honestly. A capitalist can make economic deals with other capitalists to create more jobs and to provide greater production for items to be sold. However, there will also be those people who have no desire to become business owners or entrepreneurs. In fact, many people who want to work to make a living, actually want to work for someone else. They do not want the headaches or the responsibility of owning a business, but they are willing to work to earn money and help that business grow. That is fine, because everyone in a capitalistic society has the freedom to work as much or as little as they want. Usually, it is the amount of money that a person wants to make that determines the job that they take. The job they can take is also dependent upon their desire and determination to get an education as well as their abilities and their desire to succeed. And because capitalism allows for free enterprise, there will always be those who succeed and there will always be those who fail. However, in a capitalistic society, a person can start over as many times as they want or as often as they need in order to succeed.

In the capitalistic and democratic worldview, some people will be blessed with initiative and or an entrepreneurial spirit, while others will be blessed with the ability to get and education and become lawyers, doctors, etc. Others will be blessed as housewives, technological innovators, or workers in stores or corporations. For, there is the freedom to become whatever kind of worker you wish to become, even if you just want to be a street sweeper (and there is nothing wrong with being a street sweeper). And, in a capitalistic society and democratic worldview, everyone has a chance to succeed if they work hard and desire it. But Capitalism is not a share and share alike worldview. Instead, it is a worldview that gives everyone a chance to succeed. We also need to remember that capitalism goes along with the Christian worldview too, for in the Bible we read that “Diligent hands bring wealth.” – (Proverbs 10: 4. NIV).

The Christian worldview fits in nicely together with the worldviews of democracy and capitalism because Christianity has within it an inherent caring about the other person. Christianity always cares about the freedoms of others. Christianity also supports the dreams and the fulfillment of the dreams of those who are willing to work hard and adhere to the laws of our nation. In fact, the Apostle Paul told his mentee, Titus, that “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.  -- (Titus 3: 14. NIV).

In the Christian worldview, followers of Christ are concerned for the unfortunate and help them in many different ways. Christians often feed those who lack food. In fact, Christians often start caring programs like “Hope House” that provides clothing and household items for just pennies and that gives food to those who cannot afford to feed their families. The Christian worldview is compassionate, caring, and encouraging; caring about the needs of those less fortunate.  But most of all, the Christian worldview cares about the souls of all those who do not yet know Christ as their Savior. For, Jesus said, “And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like Him who are lost.” – (Luke 19: 10. NLT).

In the Christian worldview, we care where others will end up spending eternity. And, we want everyone to develop a relationship with Christ through the repentance of their sins and their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as the risen Son of God. For, it is the soul that sees a relationship with God and His Son. We can reach more people for Christ through a loving and caring attitude than through isolationism and selfishness. But we cannot reach people for Christ if we react in hatred when we are rebuffed or are mistreated. And we cannot reach others when the freedom to voice our opinions and our knowledge is not allowed. That is why, if we want to reach others for Christ, we cannot let the lies of the liberals and socialists change the type of country that we have been given by God. That is why we must get out and vote on November 6th. We must elect men and women who want to tell the truth, who want to maintain our democracy, capitalism, and our country’s Christian worldview. For, if we elect men and women who are socialist into government positions, they can press their false beliefs upon an unsuspecting nation. That is why we must not only get out and vote, but we must mentor the younger generation in the truth of Democracy and Capitalism as well as the truth of Christianity.

If you would like to read more about the worldviews of Democracy/capitalism, socialism, and communism and how you can mentor our young people and others in the truth and knowing Christ, please go to my earlier blogs in October and November of 2015.

Salvation

And, if you do not know Christ as your Savior, I encourage you to pray and ask Christ to come into your heart. All you need to do is to understand that we are all sinners and that the payment for our sins is eternal death and separation from love and God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  -- (Romans 3: 23). But, with repentance of your sins, and the recognition that Christ is the living Son of God who died on the cross while taking yours and my sins on his shoulders, and by believing that He arose on the third day, having paid for our sins and having conquered eternal death, you, too, can be Saved for all eternity. “For, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  -- (Romans 6: 23). By repenting of your sins and by believing in Christ you can be filled with peace and the certainty that you will spend eternity with God and His Son.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For, God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”  -- (John 3: 16-17).

And Romans 9: 9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus as Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be Saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in Salvation.”

Christ said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and He with Me.”  -- (Revelation 3: 20).

For, “Whoever will call upon the Name of the Lord will be Saved.”  -- (Romans 10: 13).

Don’t let this time pass you by, call out to Christ and repent! Then, go and tell someone that you have been Saved. Your life will never be the same, for the glorious love of Christ will permeate your heart.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about Active Relational Christian Mentoring, please check out my book: The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring. You can get the book through Barnes and Nobel, Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes.